


Just Hold On

by writeforthefandom



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Anal, Blood, Bruises, Cabins, Choking, Cooking, Crying, Cuts, Fear, Graphic Descriptions of Rape, Guns, Illness, Kidnapping, Knives, Mental Torture, Oral, Pain, Physical Torture, Rape Aftermath, Sexual Torture, Shaving, Sickness, Snow, Spanking, Suffering, Torture, Vomiting, Whipped Cream, Whips, anal rape, dealing, handcufss, non con, non-con, noncon, oral rape, paddles, ropes, shaving cream, that's your warning, there is it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-16
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-11-14 22:44:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 25
Words: 52,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11217789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writeforthefandom/pseuds/writeforthefandom
Summary: Spencer Reid doesn't think anyone can love him. But he's wrong. An unsub is killing in his name, leaving declarations of love all over the place of a little town. It's up to the BAU to find out why, how to stop the unsub.Warning: there will be graphic descriptions of rape and torture in this fiction.





	1. Chapter 1

There was something off about this case, but Reid couldn’t place it. It had been five days since they arrived in town, a small town in Wyoming, and every day, a body was found with his name carved in. It irked Reid, since he didn’t know why someone would be killing people and carving his name into the bodies. And messages. Messages Reid didn’t understand.

The team had taken on the case, but had brought Reid along unwillingly. They had tried to hide it from him, but Reid had found out anyway. He was a genius after all, hiding things from him was difficult. But Reid wasn’t exactly dealing with this situation well. No one was, but Reid was taking it a tad bit too personal. And they couldn’t blame him, but it was important to stay neutral and focused on the case. Reid wasn’t. He was frustrated, angry. They’d never seen their agent like this.

“Another body has been found,” Hotch announced, walking into the conference room that the local police department had set up. He gave everyone a case file and sat down while JJ turned to the screen.

“Another man, 30 year old Carl Stokes was found dumped in an alley close to the police station.” JJ sighed and clicked through the photos until the photo appeared of the man’s chest bare, Spender Reid’s name written on it, together with another message.

“Only I can love you?” Reid mumbled, confused. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, frustrated. “What does that even mean?” He scribbled something down in a small notebook. “This isn’t the first time he left this kind of a message. But they’re getting… weirder.” Reid didn’t know how else to say it, how else to explain it.

“Reid,” Rossi said, looking at the young genius. “Perhaps you should step away.” 

The entire team was worried for what this was doing to the youngest member of the team. No one could imagine having someone kill people in their names, and especially not leaving such messages.

“No,” Reid said firmly, leaning back in his chair. “I will find the unsub doing this, I need to. I can’t let this unsub continue to kill in my name.”

Rossi nodded, leaving the subject alone.

“Well, maybe it’s a love declaration?” Prentiss mused, thinking. “I mean, it’s obviously directed to you. Maybe this unsub loves you and wants your attention?”

“Why would anyone try to get my attention like this?” Reid asked. “It doesn’t make sense. How does he even know me?”

“Well kid, you’ve been on TV, you’ve written papers, visited places. He could have easily seen you in one of such places,” Morgan said, looking at Reid. “You may not be famous, but people that you’ve never know do know you.”

“Okay, let’s go see the body and interview the family to see what they know,” Hotch said. “We need as much information as we can get. So far, the unsub has been good in covering his tracks and we have no idea who we’re dealing with.”

The rest of the team left to inspect the body and talk to the families. Reid stayed behind, turning back to the glass board. He wrote the message onto the board and closed his eyes. Why him? Reid couldn’t understand. He didn’t know why anyone would love him or want him. He didn’t even know why his team always put up with him. But he found it extremely difficult to imagine that anyone could ever love him.

He heard Hotch talking in the distance and opened his eyes, getting up. He walked towards Hotch, who put the phone down.

“We’ve got a tip. Someone saw the body being dropped off and followed the person to a house on the outskirts of town,” Hotch explained as his team gathered. “We’ll be going in. Reid, you’re staying here,” he said.

“No, I’m coming,” Reid said, crossing his arms over his chest. “This person wants me, for whatever reason. I’m coming with you.” He needed to know who this unsub was, what exactly he wanted with him.

“Reid,” Morgan said. “If this unsub wants you, he’s going to try everything to get you. It’s not safe,” he said.

“Reid, you’re staying put, that’s an order.” Hotch sighed and left, together with the other members.

Reid looked down. He went to his stuff, grabbed his gun and left the police station. He wasn’t going to let the others put themselves in danger. If this unsub wanted him, he could have him.

He got into one of the SUVs and drove off. He needed to know who this was, why this person wanted him.

“We’re one SUV short,” Morgan said, eyeing the one left. “Shit,” he growled, knowing Reid took one of the SUVs.

“Okay well, Rossi, Morgan, Prentis and I will get into this one. JJ, inform Garcia,” Hotch said, getting into the SUV. 

“We better be on time,” Morgan said. “Dammit kid.”

“You can’t blame him, Morgan.” Prentis looked at Morgan. “He wants to protect us, figured this was the only way to do it. The kid is a trouble magnet.”

“But still.” Morgan shook his head. He pulled out his phone and dialled Reid’s number as they drove, going past the speed limit. However, Reid didn’t answer the phone.

The moment they arrived they knew something was wrong. The SUV Reid took was upside down, windows broken but there was no sign of Reid. The team headed inside, guns drawn.

“Clear,” they called as they checked every room. No one was found downstairs or upstairs, and no sign of Reid. There was no sign of a struggle, no blood either. The only one left was the basement. The team gathered round, Morgan kicked in the door and pointed his gun. He started to descend downstairs slowly.

The rest of the team followed. Rossi switched on the light when he found the light switch.

Reid laid unconscious on the ground. The team rushed towards him. Hotch checked for a pulse. “He’s alive,” he said. There were no physical injuries. He must have been knocked out only recently. “Let’s get him out of here,” he ordered, picking the youngest agent up.

The door to the basement closed. Morgan ran up the small stairs and tried to kick the door open, but found it impossible. “Son of a bitch,” he growled, slamming his fist against the door.

The basement started filling with gas. The team covered their mouths but it didn’t matter. Within minutes, they all dropped like flies.

JJ waited for a call, for a message, anything. But nothing came. Hours passed, something was obviously wrong. She sent out a police unit and sighed. She waited, paced around the conference room.

She jumped when her cell phone rang and answered the call. “Yes? JJ here.”

“They’re not here. There are two SUVs, all trashed. We checked the entire place. It seemed like something went down in the basement, but there’s no trace of your team,” the officer on the phone spoke. “I’m sorry.”


	2. Chapter 2

Reid woke up to his head throbbing. He’d had headaches before, but this was entirely different. Something had obviously hit his head. Reid carefully felt around until he found the spot, his hair matted together, probably because of blood. But it must have happened somewhere later, since when he entered the basement, he fell unconscious when gas filled up the space.

He didn’t really remember much after that. He occasionally woke up, but only for a few minutes at most. He had no idea where he was now, either. Or who had taken him. He guessed the unsub he had been trying to find.

The call, the house, it had been nothing more but a setup. He wondered if his team had gotten there too, and what happened with them. Were they searching for him right now? How long had he been out? It must have been at least a day, because Reid felt hungry, more so than usual.

He opened his eyes and slowly moved into a seated position. He was in a bedroom, the walls made of wood. Perhaps a cabin? There was one window and Reid noticed there was snow outside. It has been fall, but nowhere near cold enough for snow. So perhaps they were somewhere high up in the mountains, or somewhere where it had snowed. It was a little chilly, but not cold. The heater must have been on.

Reid examined the room, taking in every little detail. The bedroom wasn’t big, but not small either. It was big enough for one king-sized bed, covered with four pillows and a thick blanket. Everything in green, the bedframe was wooden as well. There was a lightly coloured wooden desk across from him. The door was shut, and there hung a calendar on it. There wasn’t much else. A closet, probably with some clothes and maybe some fresh blankets and pillows for if these got soiled.

Then he looked down at himself, shoving away the blankets and frowned. He was wearing nothing besides a pair of pink panties. Reid swallowed, wondering if it was some kind of fetish of whoever took him. He hoped not, he wasn’t really planning on only wearing panties. On ever wearing panties, actually.

The lock clicked and Reid tensed, covering himself in the blankets and looking towards the door. The door opened and a man appeared. He was slightly tanned, had a short haircut, greenish blue eyes and a freckle on the tip of his nose. He looked to be well build, definitely a lot stronger than Reid, and he was wearing a tshirt and shorts.

“Ah, you’re finally awake!” the unsub said, approaching Reid like an excited kid. “I couldn’t wait to let you wake up. Had to keep you under for a few days, for your own safety. But now, we’ll just have fun.”

Reid noticed that his accent was foreign, but couldn’t really place it from where. Reid tensed and backed away as much as he could, uncomfortable with having the unsub so close to him. He was practically naked, and the unsub wasn’t dressed much either.

“Oh, where are my manners? My name is Ericson. Ericson Herter. But call me Eric,” he introduced himself, sitting down on the bed and smiling brightly. His teeth were unusually white, definitely well taken care of, almost obsessively.

“Where are we?” Reid asked, keeping the blankets tight to his chest.

“I’m not going to tell you,” Eric giggled. “You’re funny, thinking that I would?” He shook his head and crawled closer, managed to straddle Reid’s lap and rested his hands on Reid’s. “I thought you’d be smarter than that.”

Reid gulped and looked away, trying to ignore the man’s presence on top of him. “Where’s my team?” he asked. He hoped that they were safe, back at the BAU, so they could find him eventually. If they were here, Reid was in trouble. That would mean the unsub had something to hold above his head if Reid wouldn’t cooperate. And he wasn’t looking forward to that much.

“They’re in the basement.” Eric got off of him and Reid sighed in relief. “But they’ve fallen sick. Luckily, you can cure them.” He opened the door and looked at Reid. “Do you want to?”

His fear was confirmed. He knew now that he was going to have to do his very best not to anger or upset the unsub. He would have to submit to the unsub’s demand and from guessing, Reid knew he was not going to like that.

Reid swallowed and shoved the blankets away. “Can I have a tshirt?” Reid knew he had to play along or things would go drastically wrong. He’d rather have this unsub in the cheery mood he was in now, than angry.

Eric eyed him for a moment, then nodded. He pulled his own tshirt off and tossed it at Reid. Reid took it, pulling it on and sighing. At least this was better than only wearing panties. But he still felt vulnerable, naked.

Reid followed the unsub, down the stairs and around the corner until they stood still at a door. There was a basket with pills, water bottles and cough syrups, Reid noticed. Eric picked up the basket and gave it to Reid.

“If you work along with me, I will give you everything you need to get your team back to health.” Eric smiled and opened the door. The light was on, it wasn’t too bright but not too dark, either. Reid carefully ventured down the small stairs as the doors closed behind him. “And then maybe they can go home. But only if you work with me, not against me,” Eric said as the door closed.

“Reid?” Morgan called, sitting up in the bed he was in. He yawned, covering his mouth with his hand. “Are you okay? We thought you were dead or something.”

“If I was dead, why aren’t you?” Reid countered, putting the basket down. Everyone started to wake up. Hotch looked the worst, Prentiss looked relatively fine. Rossi didn’t seem to be doing so well either, and Morgan was in between Prentiss and Rossi.

Reid sighed and sat down on the edge of the empty bed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think he would take you with him. This is all my fault. If I hadn’t gone in the first place…”

“The unsub would have had us and you would have come to us eventually,” Hotch said. He sighed softly, rubbing his temples gently. Hotch shook his head, leaning his head back against the wall. “Reid, you did what you had to do,” he said simply. He wasn’t angry, couldn’t be at the genius. Not right now anyway. 

“Don’t worry about it, Kid. We’ll get out of here,” Morgan said, smiling at the kid and reaching out to ruffle his hair.

Reid flinched and moved away. 

Prentiss frowned. “Are you okay? I’ve never seen you flinch away from Morgan before,” she said, a worried tone in her voice.

“Yeah,” Reid mumbled, looking down. He was tense. He had a vague idea of the intentions Eric had for him, and how he would get what he wanted. There was nothing Reid could really do about it, and it terrified him. He took the basket and rummaged through it. He gave everyone a bottle of water.

Rossi shook his head. Something was up, they all knew it. But they didn’t want to pressure Reid into confessing. He took some sips from the bottle of water and sighed, laying back down. “We’ll figure it out,” he mumbled. “JJ is probably searching for us. She’ll find us.”

The door opened, Eric standing at the top of the stairs. “Spency?” he called, voice sweet but laced with a warning.

Reid shivered and took a deep breath. He looked at the four team members, who looked worriedly back at him, shot them a small smile and left. He headed up the stairs and out of the basement, the door closing.

Eric smiled and wrapped his arms around Reid’s waist, hands moving under the shirt he was wearing. Reid noticed all the little scars, cigarette burns, on Eric’s chest. He figured Eric was probably abused as a child. 

The unsub pressed Reid against the door and leaned in to kiss him. Reid moved his head away. “Don’t,” he whispered, trembling. “I- I can’t. I don’t want this.” He could already feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

Eric narrowed his eyes and let him go. He took a step back and eyed the younger man in front of him. “You will do as I say, as I want, or I’ll kill every single one of your team members downstairs,” he growled, grabbing hold of Reid’s hair and pushing him down.

Reid sunk to his knees and blinked, didn’t want to show any weakness. He bit his lip, not ready for this. He was a virgin in every sense, had never done anything sexual before. He felt bile rise up his throat but he swallowed it down.

Eric shoved his shorts down, freeing his member. Reid’s eyes widened, shuffling backwards a little bit. Hands were fisted in his hair. “If you even think of biting down, I’ll knock all the teeth from your pretty little mouth,” Eric warned, grabbing his cock and rubbing the head along Reid’s lips. “Open up, pretty boy.”

Reid swallowed hard, took a deep breath and opened his mouth. Eric kept a tight grip in his hair and it hurt. Without regard to Reid, the unsub thrusted home.

Reid gagged, trying to keep his gagging reflex under control. A tear slipped down his cheek as Eric thrusted, shallow. It was disgusting, Reid felt disgusting for allowing this to happen to him. But if he wouldn’t, Eric would kill his team members. Reid couldn’t let that happen.

“Work it,” Eric growled, pulling out and slamming his fist into Reid’s face. Reid cried out and looked up at the unsub, fear in his eyes. He wrapped his lips around Eric’s cock and sucked, trying to think of what he should do. He’d never done this before, didn’t know how or what to do.

“Take me in further,” Eric guided, talking more gently now. Reid swallowed, pulling a moan from Eric, and took in more of Eric’s length. He breathed through his nose, forcing himself to breath slowly so he wouldn’t freak out.

Eric became impatient at Reid didn’t know what he was doing. He grabbed hold of Reid’s hair again and started thrusting, slow and shallow at first, and Reid let him. He just focused on breathing, not throwing up. But the moment Eric started thrusting farther, into his throat, Reid started to panic, grabbing onto Eric’s thighs as tears streamed down his face.

Luckily for him, Eric was quick. Within a few more thrusts, Eric came. He thrusted all the way in and stayed there, waiting for Reid to swallow it all down. Reid tried, but when Eric pulled away, Reid went into a coughing fit.

“You still have a lot to learn,” Eric said, kneeling down and petting Reid’s hair gently. “But you’ll do great in no time.” He kissed his cheek, where he had hit him earlier. It was still red and would likely bruise by morning.

“Can I go back to my team now?” Reid said in between gasps of air. Eric nodded, opening the door for him. Reid stumbled down the stairs until he reached the basement, Prentiss quickly getting out of bed and rushing to him. She saw the semen in the corners of his mouth and swallowed.

“I’m going to throw up,” Reid mumbled. Prentiss quickly helped him to the small bathroom that accompanied the basement. Reid bent over the toilet and emptied the contents of his stomach. When he was finally done, he walked back to his bed and sat down, chugging down a bottle of water. He shivered, feeling all eyes on him.

“Are you okay?” Hotchner asked, worried for his agent. “Reid, what did he do to you?”

Reid shook his head. “I don’t want to talk.” He curled up on the bed and closed his eyes. “I just want to sleep.”

They left him alone and decided to get some sleep themselves.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Reid woke up, the others were awake. There was a new smell, something food, hanging in the basement. Reid groaned and slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes. He felt horrible and sick, memories of last night flooding back to him. A shiver ran down his spine before he could really concentrate on what was going on.

“Good morning,” Prentiss said, seemingly cheery. She flashed Reid a gentle, worried smile before spooning more soup into her mouth. The others were too.

Reid sighed, relieved the team members had gotten some food. They deserved that. The smell made his stomach growl, though, but Reid was uncertain if he could even keep in food without throwing up. 

“Morning,” he mumbled. His throat was sore, his cheek swollen and probably blue. He touched it gently and grimaced, then swung his legs out of the bed. He clutched his stomach with one hand as nausea rolled over him. He rushed himself to the toilet and fell to his knees just in time to throw up.

When he emerged from the bathroom, he looked pale. He sighed and sat back down on the bed. He wasn’t sick from the team members, who seemed to be doing a little better at the moment, but from what he experienced last night. With his memory, he would remember every single detail of it for the rest of his life and it disgusted him. He felt dirty, he wanted to shower, get clean, and although the bathroom in the basement provided a shower, he would let the others use it. They probably only had limited warm water anyway. Reid would another way to get clean.

The door atop the stairs creaked open and Reid braced himself. He would spend another day with the unsub, probably be forced to do more things that he didn’t want to. It almost made him throw up again, but his stomach was empty. He swallowed down the bile and forced himself to get up.

“Spencer? Are you awake yet?” Eric called, a little worry in his voice. “I didn’t mean to hurt you last night. Please come up so we can talk about it, okay?”

Reid shuddered and looked hesitantly towards the stairs. He thought of every excuse ever to present to Eric, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. Eric would either leave him alone for a little while and then come back, or drag him up the stairs himself, hurting him in the process. Neither option was any better than the option being presented to him right now. Reid had little choice anyway. The unsub would take whatever the unsub wanted and Reid would have to suffer through it.

“Be careful up there,” Hotch said gently, seeing the hesitation. He hated this, hated that he was bedridden, feeling sick. Hated that they were all powerless, because they were. This unsub managed to catch a team of five FBI agents and bring them here, wherever here was, all alone. 

“Yeah,” Reid answered, looking at the four team members. He nodded, then headed upstairs, hearing the door close behind him the moment he stepped out of the basement.

Eric took Reid’s face in his hands gently and inspected the large bruise on Reid’s cheek. He looked guilt-ridden and Reid hated it, because Eric actually looked sincere, maybe even adorable. It wasn’t fair. This unsub wasn’t supposed to feel guilt-ridden at all.

“I’m really sorry,” Eric said softly, looking directly into Reid’s eyes. “You made me do it, but I’m sorry.” He pressed a gentle kiss to the bruised cheek and took one of Reid’s hands. He guided the younger man to the kitchen and smiled brightly, the table full of food and fresh coffee. “Sit down. Let’s eat breakfast together.”

Reid looked at all the food and felt sick, but sat down anyway. Eric sat down opposite of him and poured Reid a cup of steaming coffee. Reid took it and took a careful sip, closing his eyes and relishing in the taste. Coffee was so normal but it felt so special in this situation.

He put the cup down and took the sandwich that Eric handed to him. He dug in, trying to at least look hungry. He only ate half of it though before he started getting serious urges to throw up again.

“What’s wrong?” Eric asked, cocking his head to the side. “Are you okay?”

“Just… not hungry.” Reid forced a smile before ducking his head, keeping a hand on his stomach. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, before releasing the air and feeling a little better. He took another sip from his cup of coffee.

Eric nodded, chowing down the sandwich instead. Once finished, he cleaned up the table on his own and smiled.

“Let’s go outside,” Eric suggested, looking at Reid. “I’ll get you some pants, a sweater and shoes.”

Reid opened his eyes and looked up at Eric. “Okay,” he said softly. Eric vanished from the kitchen, returned within a minute with the clothes and shoes. Reid took them gratefully and pulled them on, finally feeling a little less exposed. 

Eric took his hand, grabbed his keys and smiled, before walking with Reid to the door. He opened it and stepped outside, Reid followed, then he closed the door and started walking.

The snow was fairly deep, but Reid didn’t mind. He took in his surroundings. At least the place was beautiful. They were definitely somewhere high up in the mountains, surrounded by trees. Reid breathed in the fresh air and released a little sigh.

They walked for a while. Reid wasn’t sure how long, probably an hour or so. Then they arrived at the destination Eric had picked for them. It was a river, frozen in time because of the harsh temperatures. Reid was a little cold, a sweater didn’t keep him warm as much as he’d liked. They sat down on two large stones.

“Isn’t it beautiful? I love this place,” Eric said, gazing ahead of him. He kept holding on to Reid’s hand. “I used to come here often as a kid, until my parents died when I was twelve. Went into foster care then until I was eighteen and inherited everything my parents left to me, including the cabin.” He smiled fondly. “Six years in foster care was a hell.”

Reid looked towards Eric. The more he would get to know the unsub, the better he would be able to understand him and get his team, and himself, out of here. “What happened to you in foster care?” he asked gently, squeezing the unsub’s hand as a sign of comfort. He had to play along, so he tried really hard.

Eric sighed and looked down. “All the families I stayed at, six families, molested me. The fathers would always. They’d sometimes keep me in the basement for days, without food and only little bits of water. Then, he would come down there and “punish” me. He would rape me.” Tears formed in Eric eyes and he squeezed them shut. “It hurt, every time. I tried to warn authorities, but they would never listen. I finally got out when I was eighteen.”

Predictable, kind of. Reid sighed softly and shook his head. “I’m sorry for what happened to you,” he said softly. “But you can’t do what they did to you, to others.” He looked down, afraid of seeing anger in Eric’s eyes. “What they did to you, was horrible. But you really can’t do that to others. I know abused children sometimes fall into the patterns of their abusers, but you don’t have to.”

Eric pulled his hand away and eyed Reid suspiciously. He stood up and started pacing, having a hard time facing the truth. “You just need to cooperate and I won’t hurt you,” he said, stopping in front of Reid and looking at him. “I don’t want to hurt you, so don’t make me.”

Reid sighed and rubbed his eyes. There had to be some way to get to the unsub, to make him realise that what he was doing was wrong. But Reid didn’t really know how to. He looked up at Eric. “Okay,” he said, getting up. His entire body tensed, but he slowly walked to Eric and took hold of his hands. “I will, but please let my team go. I will do whatever you want, just bring them home safely.”

Eric studied Reid’s eyes for minutes, then nodded. “Okay,” he said. “Three of them. One will stay here, as insurance.” 

Reid swallowed and nodded. “Prentiss, Morgan and Rossi.” 

Eric nodded and they headed back to the cabin. Reid was shivering and a little soaked through by the time they arrived, so Eric guided him to the bathroom. He plugged the bathtub and started filling it up with warm water.

“Undress,” Eric said softly, undressing himself.

Reid tensed, swallowed down hard and shed his clothing. He didn’t feel comfortable around this unsub, but he had no choice. He would have to cooperate to show Eric that what he said was true. But it still made him tense and feel sick, thinking of what he was going to have to do. He had no illusions of a fairy tale. This was going to get nasty real fast. But Reid was at peace because at least three of his team members would return home safely.

Reid stepped into the tub first and sat down, body relaxing at the warm water. Eric joined him seconds later. They enjoyed the silence, the peace. Reid kept his eyes closed and pretended to be somewhere better, somewhere safe. Somewhere where he wouldn’t be forced to do things he absolutely didn’t want to do.

Luckily for Reid, Eric didn’t try anything so Reid could just enjoy warming up and being relaxed for a little while. Until the water grew cold, and Eric rose from the tub, stepping out. He wrapped a towel around himself. Reid opened his eyes and got up, accepting the towel from Eric and drying himself off, before wrapping it around his waist.

Eric took him to his bedroom and opened the closet. He looked at Reid for a moment, then took out baby blue panties and turned to him.

Reid looked at Eric. “Can I please, at least, have a tshirt as well?” he asked, taking the panties. He shifted nervously from foot to foot.

“Why? You’re so beautiful the way you are,” Eric said, turning to Reid. He sighed and nodded. “Okay then.” He turned back to the closet and took out a white tshirt, handing it to Reid. He dressed himself in a tshirt, boxer shorts and sweats.

Reid took the tshirt and pulled it on, together with the panties. The panties made him nervous, they fitted way too well to be guessed. The unsub must have somehow gotten exact measurements on him.

Eric turned back to Reid and held in his hands three pairs of ropes and ties, meant for blindfolds. “You will go down there and blindfold and tie up the three people you want to see them leave.” Eric looked firmly at Reid. “They cannot see anything,” he stressed. “Or get themselves free. If they do, our deal is off.”

“I understand,” Reid said, taking the ropes and ties. “Thank you.” He followed Eric to the basement. The door opened, alerting the other members, and Reid walked down the stairs.

“Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi…” Reid glanced at Hotch and gulped. “I got your freedom.” He looked down. “I’m sorry, Hotch.”

“No, that’s good,” Hotch said. “Go,” he ordered the three team members.

They nodded and let their hands be tied up, their eyes blindfolded. Reid gently guided them up the stairs, looked at Hotch and sighed, his stomach in knots. He looked at Eric. “Please get them home safely,” he said as he helped the three into the car.

Eric nodded, walking back to the basement with Reid. “Stay here,” he said, Reid walking down the stairs into the basement. The door closed and got locked.

“Do you trust him to release the agents safely?” Hotch asked, watching Reid as he sat down on the bed.

Reid contemplated that question, then nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “He doesn’t want to hurt me, or any of you. He’ll keep to his deal so I’ll keep to my end of the deal.”

“What deal did you make?” Hotch asked. “Reid, you have to be careful. He may not want to hurt you, but he will. We know that from the bruise on your cheek.”

“I know,” Reid said, looking up at Hotchner. “I made a deal that I would cooperate, give him what he wants, if he released all of you. He released three. Morgan, Prentiss and Rossi came to mind first. I’m sorry for being so selfish.”

“It’s fine,” Hotch said. “I’ll help you through whatever you experience and need.”


	4. Chapter 4

They sat in silence for a while, a comfortable silence. Reid mulled over what was to come once the unsub was back, Hotchner was worried for the youngest agent of the team. Probably not as worried as Garcia, or JJ, were at the moment. They knew entirely nothing as of right now about where they were, what was happening. And maybe that was better for them. Garcia was such a kind person, for her to know what was going to happen to Reid would probably break her heart more than it has in the past years.

They were one big family and they worried constantly about each other. No one was an exception. Hotch remembered how upset Garcia was the time that Reid was abducted, and died, and brought back. She was a far too gentle person to be doing the kind of work she did, yet she stayed with the team because she loved them. Families stayed together no matter what.

“Reid, what happened yesterday evening?” Hotch eventually asked, sitting up and looking at Reid. He knew Reid didn’t want to talk about it, but he would have to eventually, anyway. And Hotch had to figure out how to help Reid through whatever he was experiencing. When Reid came downstairs, into the basement, yesterday evening, there was something terribly wrong. Hotch hadn’t been sure what, but with their line of work, they needed strong stomachs. Yet Reid had thrown up a mere minute after whatever had gone down between the unsub and Reid. It was worrying, to say the least.

Reid swallowed and looked at Hotch. He sighed, supposed it was better to just tell him than hide. He’d had a hard time hiding his drug addiction way back, but had gotten clean all by himself before he’d told the team. He was really proud of that. This was no drug addiction though, this was just so much worse.

“The unsub, Eric, he uh…” A short silence. Reid frowned, trying to find the words to tell Hotch yet not be explicit about it. Yet he wasn’t sure how. Too explicit, and he would be forced to remember what happened. Too vague, and Hotch would ask more questions. He chewed his lip for a bit, contemplating his words carefully.

“He made me perform sexual oral acts on him,” he blurted out and looked down, face flushing red. A shiver ran down his spine and he took a deep breath, not wanting to freak out. He calmed down a little. He hated talking about it, even though he knew it would be better than locking up all memories somehow. They would come back, after all, and hit him hard. He had to deal with it right now, not push the memories away.

There was silence for a minute, Hotch letting Reid calm down before he would say anything. He had an inkling that this would turn sexual, yet he had so hoped it wouldn’t. Hotch would take his place, but he was fairly certain that Reid would not allow him and that the unsub wouldn’t want him. He’d targeted Reid for a reason, after all. 

“I see,” Hotch said and sighed softly. “I’m sorry.” It was all he could really say, and he hated it. There was so little he could do to protect Reid, and it frustrated him. Reid had been through enough, the entire team had. But didn’t seemingly matter. They were all trouble magnets, especially Reid, for some reason.

Reid shook his head, looking up at Hotch. “There’s nothing you could have done, it’s fine.” He sighed, slowly coming to terms with it. “I just never thought anyone would want me in such a way, but apparently there are people who do,” he mumbled, looking down. “But it will be okay, eventually. The team will find us and rescue us from here. They always do.” He forced a little smile.

Hotch nodded, though he was sceptical. They were good at finding unsubs, but this was different. It was always harder when one of the team members were super involved in the case. Especially when they knew so little about the unsub they were facing. Hotch barely knew anything, now a name, but that was pretty much it. The unsub was after Reid, and he had him. How the team was going to find him, Hotch didn’t know. He just hoped they would, soon, or things were certainly going to go downhill soon.  
\------  
Morgan guessed they drove for at least a day, probably a day and a half was more accurate. That meant they were fairly fair away from headquarters, and where they were kidnapped. When the car finally pulled to its end, Morgan was a little disoriented as the door beside him was opened.

Eric helped them out of the car. Cold air hit them, just like when they had stepped out of the basement and into the outside, wherever that had been. Morgan blinked and heard the car door shut, then another open and shut. The engine started and Morgan quickly removed the blindfold, taking in the plate number as the unsub drove off.

And for the first time, they got a good look at their surroundings. They were in some kind of valley, surrounded by mountains. There was snow on the mountains, and it was cold down here too. It looked like a small village.

An elderly woman rushed to them. “Are you three okay?” she asked. “Let me call the police.” She pulled out her cell phone, fumbled with it but it was clear she barely used it.

“Let me help you, ma’am,” Prentiss said, gently taking the cell phone from her. With tied together hands she dialled the emergency number and handed it back to the woman. She smiled and talked on the phone, before hanging up.

“Police officers are coming,” she said, putting her phone back in her bag. “What happened to you all?”

Rossi shook his head. “Nothing. We’re FBI agents,” he said as police started to arrive. They cut them loose and they were taken to the police station. There, they called Garcia.

“Yes?” Garcia mumbled on her cell phone, barely awake. She sounded upset. 

“Baby Girl?” Morgan said, sitting down in a chair with a steaming hot cup of coffee.

“Morgan!” Garcia squealed and called for JJ. “JJ! Morgan!” She sniffed. “Morgan where have you been!? I’ve been so incredibly worried.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Morgan apologised. “We were kidnapped by the unsub when we went to find Reid. We were driving for a while, not sure how long, then spend a good two days at a cabin, I think.”

“Oh my god,” Garcia gasped, sitting up straight. “Where are you now?” She asked as she started tracing the cell phone.

“Not sure, somewhere isolated, high up. Surrounded by mountains.” Morgan looked at the other team members as they joined him. He put the phone on speaker. “Baby Girl, you’re on speaker.”

“Hey,” Rossi and Prentiss said in unision.

“Oh my god!” Garcia gasped again. “Hey guys,” JJ said as she came into the room and took a seat besides Garcia. “Are you guys okay? Where’s Hotch and Reid?”

“We’re fine,” Rossi said. “But Hotch and Reid are still with the unsub. Reid managed to negotiate our release, though.” Rossi sighed softly, worried for the kid.

“Has anything happened to Reid?” Garcia questioned, hearing the worry in Rossi’s voice.

“Uh, yeah…” Prentiss trailed off for a bit. “The unsub wants a sexual relationship with Reid,” she explained after a short silence.

The news settled in heavily, Garcia covered her mouth as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. “No,” she whispered. “Not my poor baby,” she mumbled, distraught. “Has he been…?”

“Yeah,” Prentiss said softly. “He has been.”

“Garcia, let’s find them,” JJ said, trying to redirect Garcia’s focus on finding the three members that got released.

“Right,” Garcia said, typing away. “Found you! You’re in a small village outside of Edmonton, Canada!” She smiled, glad to have found them. “We’re coming.”

“Bring everyone,” Morgan said, and hung up. He sighed and leaned back, taking a sip from his cup of coffee.

“Prentiss, why didn’t you tell us?” he asked, looking at her.

“I didn’t want to intrude on his privacy,” she said, looking down. “It’s not easy to go through what he’s gone through. And what he will most likely go through. So I kept quiet.”

“I had a hunch,” Rossi said, he shook his head. “Poor kid. Hopefully Hotch manages to get him through whatever he’s going to experience.” 

“Yeah,” Prentiss mumbled. “Let’s find him, rescue Reid. We have to, for him.”

They all nodded.  
\-----  
Three and a half days Hotch and Reid spent in the basement. They had some food, but not much. Luckily, they at least access to water all the time. Reid wondered what was taking Eric so long to come back. Was he just driving far away? Or had something happened along the way? He worried. What if his intuition had been wrong and Eric had killed the three team members he managed to negotiate the release of? He would never know.

Hotch watched the kid withdraw more and more. He tried to keep conversations going, but often, long silences would fall between them. There wasn’t much to say or talk about, anyway. But Hotch had to try. He couldn’t have Reid withdraw completely.

The door finally unlocked and opened. Reid tensed significantly, opening his eyes and looking towards the stairs.

Eric came down the stairs and approached. He eyed Hotch as he joined Reid on the bed. “I’m back, baby,” he said, pressing a kiss to Reid’s cheek. “Join me upstairs? I’ve brought sushi.” He looked towards Hotch. “Aaron can even come along.”

“Okay,” Reid said, looking at Eric. He stood up and followed after the unsub, Hotch closely behind.

They went upstairs. Hotch got his first look at the cabin then, taking in the details. It was small and cosy, everything you’d expect from a cabin alone in the mountains. His stomach rumbled at the sight of the dining table full of food. They all took their seats.

“Dig in,” Eric said, smiling at the two before eagerly propping sushi into his mouth. Hotch and Reid took his example, filling their mouths with food. This was such a luxury, Reid thought. He wondered why the unsub was being so nice, but he appreciated it. Maybe it was to win him over, to show that he wouldn’t hurt him. The bruise on his cheek said otherwise. It was fading, but still painful.

Once finished, Reid leaned back in his chair and sighed. He felt on edge, nervous. He was pretty sure this wasn’t going to be for free completely.

“We’re moving tomorrow, btw,” Eric announced, wiping his mouth and looking at Reid. “I’ve already booked flight passes for us two.”

“What about my team member?” Reid asked, a sinking feeling in his gut. Hotch tensed and looked up at Eric. 

“You can’t take him,” he defended. 

“I’m going to kill him,” Eric said, getting up. “We don’t need him, Spencer. All we need is each other. I love you.” He walked around the table. “I want to take you home with me.”

“Please don’t kill him,” Reid said, getting up. He took the unsub’s hands in his. “I will come with you, but let’s leave him behind. It will be just us two.” He tried to sound as sincere as he could.

Eric looked at him for a moment, then smiled and hugged him. “Okay!” he said, kissing him. Reid kissed him back.

“Reid, no,” Hotch said, getting up. “I will not allow this.” He frowned. “I know you’re trying to save me, but you don’t have to. I will not let you leave with this unsub.”

Eric growled, shoving Reid aside, gently. “You need to shut up,” he said, pressing Hotch against the wall. “Spencer is mine. I love him! You will not take him away from me!”

Reid quickly intervened, stepping in front of Eric and taking his face in his hands. He tried to think of anything couples would do, or say. “Let him be, he won’t take me,” Reid mumbled. “I’m yours.” He wanted to throw up saying that, but he forced a small smile.

Eric relaxed and nodded. “Come to bed,” he said. “I need you.” Eric rubbed his crotch against Reid, felt him tense up but ignored it.

Reid looked at Hotch briefly, then nodded at Eric and followed him to the bedroom where he had first woken up. His heart was racing, his body was tense and he felt a very urgent need to throw up, fight back. But he wouldn’t risk his own life or that of Hotch’s, so he would submit instead.

But Reid stopped briefly in his tracks and pulled his hands free. “No,” he said. “You can’t do this to me!”

“What?” Eric pulled Reid into the bedroom as Hotch rounded the corner. He shut the door and locked it. “You said you’d cooperate.” Eric crossed his arms over his chest.

“No, I won’t.” Reid clenched his fists. “I won’t let you assault me! I hate you! I want you to let me and my boss go!”

Apparently, Eric didn’t deal with being yelled at well. Within seconds, Reid has been overpowered, bend over a chair and tied down. “I’ve done everything for you!” Eric screamed, slamming his fist down on Reid’s back. “Everything! Because I love you! I won’t let you be taken away!”

“Reid!” Hotchner yelled. It was the last thing Reid heard before he passed out.


	5. Chapter 5

When Reid came to, he was sore. His head and back were throbbing and he felt nauseous. He opened his eyes and frowned. He was still in the bedroom, that was for sure. But his hands were tied to the ceiling with ropes. He was wearing nothing at all. He scanned the room but found no one. He remembered fists beating down on his back and guessed his back was a mix of reds, blues and purples by now. He wasn’t sure how long he had been out, but he guessed it must have been at least several hours or so. That’s how it felt, anyway.

Where was the unsub? Where was Hotch? Why were his hands tied to the ceiling? His wrists felt raw, he must have been in this position for a while. His legs felt wobbly but at least he could stand on them.

His mind raced. What if something had happened to Hotchner when he struggled? He would never forgive himself if Hotch had gotten hurt because Reid had disobeyed, refused to cooperate. He swallowed hard and sighed. His shoulders felt sore. He wanted his arms down but he couldn’t. 

The door opened and Reid took a step, turning around. He bit his lip as Hotch walked in, followed by Eric, and turned his back to him. He looked down, wondering what Eric was planning. He glanced behind him and saw Hotch being tied down to a chair. He didn’t see any physical injuries, at least that was a good sign. Hotch glared angrily at Eric. What had happened between them, Reid didn’t know.

“Let him go,” Reid said softly, looking at Eric. “I’ll come with you, I’ll cooperate.” He swallowed hard, tears prickling the corners of his eyes. “Just please.” It would mean leaving his team behind and laying his hands in the unsub’s. He would lose control over his life. But it would also mean Hotch’s safety, and the team’s safety. And he was sure the team would find him, eventually. They always found the unsub, no matter how hard it was to catch him.

Eric looked at Reid, walking towards him. He cupped his cheek. “I love you,” Eric said, looking sincere. He rested his forehead against Reid’s. “I do. Let me show you. Let me try to have you fall in love with me? I want you, only you. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” He looked Reid in his eyes. He had wanted nothing more but a chance to be with Reid. He knew his practice hadn’t been good, but he saw it would have been the only way to get any attention from Reid.

“Then let me get dressed and we’ll go,” Reid said softly. “We’ll catch that plane, and I’ll let you try. We’ll leave Aaron behind.” Reid forced a small smile. “I’ll cooperate, submit. As long as you leave Aaron unharmed behind.”

Eric searched Reid’s eyes, then nodded. He untied Reid’s hands and Reid groaned, rolling his shoulders and gently rubbing his wrists. Eric handed Reid some underwear, jeans, a sweater. Reid pulled it on, grateful to not be baked anymore, especially not in front of Hotch. He looked at Eric. “Can I say goodbye?”

Eric nodded. “Five minutes,” Eric said. He pointed to the gun in the back of his pants. “Don’t try anything.” He left the bedroom then.

“Reid, no.” Hotch looked at Reid as Reid untied him. “There’s no guarantee we can find you if you go with him.” He was nervous. Having heard the unsub’s plans with Reid, he didn’t want Reid to go with the unsub alone. There was no guarantee that the team could find him fast, it may take years. And Hotch was afraid of what the unsub would do to Reid in several years.

“I know,” Reid said, looking at Hotch. “But it will mean you are safe. The team will find you.” He sat down on the bed and looked down. “You are my family. The only one I’ve really ever had. And I’m sure you will find me one day,” he said, looking up at Hotch. “And we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”

Hotch sighed. Of course Reid was right. They couldn’t overpower the unsub, but he didn’t want to leave Reid. Or have Reid leaving him. He wasn’t so certain that his team could find the unsub. They had been unable to when they were trying to track him down. Instead, they’d all walked into a trap. 

“Reid… He’s not going to do good things to you. He wants to turn you into a woman, have children, make you his sex slave. I have no idea how he will do that, but he will.” Hotch frowned, rubbing his temples. A headache was forming because he was worrying so much. “There is no guarantee we will find him in time, that we will find you in time, to prevent whatever he’s planning to do to you.”

Reid swallowed hard and looked at Hotch. “Just… Find me when you can. I believe in you and the team.”

“Spencer,” Eric said, walking back into the room. “Let’s go. It’s quite a long drive to the airport.”

Reid nodded at Eric. He got up. “Thank you for everything, Hotch.” He blinked away the tears and walked out of the room, following Eric outside, into the car. He took a look around as he got in. He saw Hotch standing outside. And then they drove away, Hotch becoming a speck in the distance, and then vanishing.

Eric looked at Reid. “Don’t be sad,” he said, giving a small smile. “We’ll be happy together, some day.” He patted his knee. “I just know it.”

Reid rested his head against the headrest of the chair and nodded. “Yeah, perhaps we will.” He closed his eyes and nodded off. He dreamed of being safe with the team, celebrating his birthday that was coming up in a few days.

“Reid, wake up.” Eric gently shook Reid, who slowly woke up. “We’re at the airport.” He smiled at him, opening his car door and getting out of the car.

Reid opened the car door and got out as well. He rolled his head and shoulders, still a little sore. Reid followed after Eric, still a little groggy, mostly upset. He really didn’t want to step into a plane to god knows where. He wanted to scream for help and have the team find him, and go back to him. He thought back of what Hotch had told him. He’d rather not turn into a woman, or be forced into sex slavery, even if it was just for one man.

“Where are we going?” Reid asked softly. He wanted to know where they were going, maybe he could leave some kind of message. But Eric was keeping a close eye on him, so it likely wasn’t possible.

Eric looked at Reid. “Austria,” he said, smiling. “That’s where I’m from! But I moved to the States when I was 19. Then Canada when I was 20.” He nodded, fond of the memories. “But Austria will always be my home. I’m so excited to take you home.”

Reid nodded and sighed. Europe was far away, different territory. He wasn’t sure if the team would be able to find him there. They may trace him to Austria, but finding him was going to be difficult. Eric arranged their boarding passes and luggage, and then they went to the boarding area. They waited there for an hour or so, before boarding the plane. Reid looked out the window as he took his seat, feeling homesick a little. “Goodbye,” he whispered softly.  
\-----  
Sirens started coming closer as Hotch walked towards the front door. He prayed for it to be his team, to have found him. It had been twelve hours since Reid walked out and Hotch still felt guilty for not going after him. He knew there was nothing he could have done anyway. The unsub had a gun and if Reid or Hotch would have tried anything, they would have gotten shot.

When he stepped outside, Morgan rushed out of the vehicle, gun raised. He was confused. What was Hotch doing outside? “Hotch?” he questioned. “Where’s the unsub, Reid!?” JJ, Rossi and Prentiss got out of their SUVs, police cars rushing to a stop.

“They’re gone,” Hotch simply said. He sighed, everyone lowering their guns. “Left for an airport, I don’t know which, about twelve hours ago.” Hotch looked defeated.

“We’ll find him,” JJ said, helping Hotch into a car. “Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” She looked him over quickly, but didn’t see any physical wounds. He did look pale, so perhaps he was sick.

Hotch shook his head. “I’m fine. Reid… Not so much.” He had heard the angry fit that Eric had thrown when Reid refused. Had then seen the bruises several hours later when Reid came to, naked. His back was a black and blue mess. It was but a tiny preview of what was going to happen to Reid.

“What happened?” Rossi questioned as the cars drove back the long drive to their base. He looked at Hotch, worried. “You’re pale. You know what the unsub is going to do to him.”

A sigh escaped the team leader and he nodded. “Eric, that’s his name, threw a hissy fit when Reid refused him in the bedroom. Then, when Reid passed out, he forced me back into the basement and started talking. Said he would turn Reid into a woman and marry him and adopt children. Make Reid his sex slave. He said he might even share him, make money off of him. I almost threw up, he described it in such details.”

There was a long silence as that settled in. The team all grew pale as well, knowing what was going to happen to Reid. JJ sighed and dialled Garcia. This wasn’t good, Garcia was going to be devastated by the news that they didn’t have Reid.

“JJ! Tell me you got our Genius Kid!” Garcia said, worried. 

“I’m sorry,” JJ apologised. “He and the unsub left to the airport twelve hours ago.”

There was a silence from Garcia’s side, some sniffling. And she didn’t even know the news yet of Reid’s future. It was better to hide it from her for now, they all knew that. They had to be focused on finding Reid. Garcia gasped in air, her mind racing. Their Genius was gone, to some random airport, they didn’t even know where. God knows what had happened to Reid in the meantime, or was about to happen, where they were going to go.

“Garcia… We need you to check all airports in a twelve hour radius and check security footage and board passes. The unsub’s name is Eric. I doubt the unsub used a different name for Reid,” Hotch explained. He listened to her typing, a comforting sound to hear after spending several days in a basement. He was glad to be back with the team, but his priority was to find Reid. He was worried sick, much more than he had ever been.

“Found them!” Garcia chirped, a little more life to her voice now. “But they’re already flying. They’re off to Austria.”

“Austria?” JJ asked, frowning. “That’s Europe. That’s way out of our district.”

“Makes sense now,” Hotch mumbled. “Eric has some kind of German accent to his talking. Maybe he’s from Austria? He must at least have some property there, probably isolated, otherwise there’s no real reason for him to go back there.”

“Probably, otherwise he wouldn’t go back there,” Morgan reasoned. “Garcia, book us flight tickets for the nearest airport and fastest flight. We need to catch up on him, and fast.” Morgan fidgeted in his chair. JJ hung up the phone and sighed, tired.

“This was never supposed to happen,” she mumbled. “Poor Reid. I can’t imagine what he’s going through. What if we’ll find him, but he’s so traumatised? With his mind, he will clearly remember every detail of what happens to him.”

“We’ll just have to trust that he is strong,” Rossi said. “We’re all worried. We all want him back. And we will. But we can’t think of what is going to happen to him. We have to stay focused and find him.”

Or Reid’s future would be uncertain. Austria was a whole new terrain for them, unknown. They weren’t sure if they would be able to work together with local police, but they would try everything they could to find Reid and rescue him.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mind the tags, guys.

The team arrived at the nearest airport several hours after they had gotten the call that Reid’s plane had taken off. Reid’s plane was already halfway through the flight. A jet was waiting and they all piled in quickly, wanting to take off as quickly as possible. The jet wouldn’t be able to catch up, but the flight would take slightly less longer than the airplane had. They had to find Reid as soon as they possibly could, and that was going to be extremely difficult in a country they’ve never been to, where another language was spoken and where police worked differently.

JJ called Garcia once they were on the plane. “Garcia, you need to inform the airport that Reid’s plane will land at to keep Reid and the unsub back. Tell them the unsub is potentially very dangerous and might to anything to get away, including hurting Reid,” she said.

No one wanted to think about that. But they had to consider all options.

“Okay,” Garcia said, sounding like she had been crying for a while. But she did what she was told, getting contact information and then informing the Austrian airport to hold Eric and Reid when they would land. Garcia disconnected the call and sighed, leaning back in her chair and trying not to cry again, like she’d done the past few hours. Her kid Genius was missing and all she wanted was to have him back safe and sound.

“Get some rest,” Hotch said. “It’s a long flight, we’ll need our energy when we get there.” The rest nodded. Hotch decided to lay down and sighed, wondering if he could have done anything to prevent Reid from getting taken. Although technically Reid left voluntarily, but only to protect him and the others. 

Morgan sat down opposite of Hotch. “We’ll find him,” he said. “We found the cabin. We can find Reid. We’re the best in doing what we do.”

“I know,” Hotch said. “But we barely know anything about this unsub. He was already incredibly hard to find for you guys, back at home. We know Canada and we know how to navigate Canada. But this… This is so much different.” Hotch shook his head. “I fear we will be too late. That when we do find Reid, he won’t be himself anymore, but an entirely, traumatised, different person.”

Morgan nodded. He feared that too. But he had to keep hope. “We will find him, and we’ll help him, no matter what.”  
\-----  
Reid woke up as the airplane touched ground. He yawned and rubbed his eyes, for a moment unaware of where he was, who he was with. He looked out the window and reality came back to him. He glanced at Eric, who seemed super excited to be home.

They waited as the plane was guided into the airport. Reid was nervous, felt a little sick, but mostly he was upset. He wondered where the team was, if they had figured out where he was going. If they had found Hotch yet, if Hotch had told the team what the unsub was planning to do to Reid. It made him want to throw up at the thought. He would have to find a way to stretch his time, not let Eric do to him what Eric wanted to do.

Unbuckling from their seats, Eric and Reid got up and went to exit the plane. As they entered the airport and Eric retrieved their bags, they were stopped at the exit.

“Hands up,” two police officers said, cautious. They’d gotten the warning that Eric was potentially very dangerous, and would do anything to get away, including harming Reid. 

Reid sighed in relief. It must have been the team who had warned airport police. He looked gratefully at the officers, thankful that his hell was over. That his team was most likely on the way to retrieve him. He could finally go home, feel safe.

Eric punched one of the officers and grabbed the gun from him. He wrapped an arm around Reid’s waist, pressed the gun against Reid’s head. Reid tensed and closed his eyes, tears threatening to spill. He couldn’t let them, couldn’t seem weaker than he already had been. Why was this happening to him? 

The officer grimaced and went to help his partner. Surrounding people had stepped away, keeping their distance. Eric took that opportunity and forced Reid to walk. They got past other security, a car was already waiting for them.

Eric smiled brightly as another man stepped out, a little different from Eric but almost identical, twins? Reid shivered, feeling uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure if he would be able to deal with two unsubs, especially not if the other man wanted the same thing as Eric wanted. Reid already could barely deal with knowing what Eric wanted, but with a second unsub. His Hell just got a lot worse.

“Brüder!” the other called, opening the car doors for Eric and Reid. Reid got into the car and stared out the window, towards the airport, just wishing desperately that his team was here. But they weren’t. If they were on their way, it would take at least another several hours before they would land at the airport.

They drove off and Reid closed his eyes, listening to the two brothers converse in German. The radio was on softly in the background, also in German. It was mostly songs and occasionally news and weather updates, he guessed. He didn’t understand the language properly to know what they were talking about, maybe didn’t want to know either. He clutched his stomach and sighed heavily.

They drove for a while, Eric and the other making sure no one was following them. Then they switched cars. They were smart, making Reid feel miserable at any chance of getting found by his team.

They drove for a long time, Reid concluded nine hours in total. Reid occasionally drifted off into a light sleep, but more often just stared out the window, taking in the scenery. He started feeling sick towards the end up the ride, as they drove up a mountain, all the way until there was snow. And then they went off the road and deep into the snow covered forest, had to walk the last few miles because it was unreachable by car.

“Welcome home,” Eric chirped happily as he opened the door to the house, made of wood and stone. Reid looked around before he stepped inside, cold and shivering.

“I haven’t introduced myself,” the brother said, sticking out his hand. “My name is Hans.” He smiled brightly and Reid also noted the extremely white teeth.

Reid didn’t shake his hand, just nodded. Hans seemed disappointed but Reid ignored it, shuffling uncomfortably on his feet. He wanted to warm up and lay down, cry himself to sleep and hope for the team to find him.

“You want to warm up?” Eric asked, taking Reid’s hand and leading him through a hallway, behind each door a different room, like a living room, a kitchen and a storage closet. The other door was fully wooden, no windows. Reid felt his stomach drop, a basement. Of course they’d have a basement.

Eric opened the door and switched on the light, guiding Reid down a short set of stairs. The basement was spacious. It was a bedroom basically, a large bed, a desk and a closet. There was a spacious bathroom as well, and another room behind a closed door. Eric didn’t open the door, didn’t say anything about it. Just smiled at Reid and guided him to the bathroom.

He started the bath and looked towards Reid expectantly. The bath was large, could fit at least four people. Reid sighed and undressed, then stepped into the warm water and sat down. He couldn’t really relax though, not while Eric undressed and joined him. A few minutes later Hans did as well.

Reid closed his eyes and pulled his knees to his chest. He sighed and tried not to freak out, throw up or do anything else besides relax a bit. He heard the two brothers talking in German, felt left out a bit but perhaps it was best. If they were talking about him, he didn’t want to know anything about what they were going to do to him.

A hand on his leg made him tense up. Reid opened his eyes, took a deep breath and watched as Eric shuffled closer. “I need you,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to Reid’s cheek. “Hans wants to join in.”

“No,” Reid whispered, rising and stepping out of the bath. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around himself, eyes wide. “I can’t.” He shook his head, backing away as Eric got out as well. “I don’t want this.” Panic was rising up his throat, restricting his breathing.

Eric pinned Reid against the sink and narrowed his eyes. “You promised to cooperate,” he reminded Reid, grabbing his throat gently. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.”

Reid teared up, looking at Eric. He looked away and closed his eyes, didn’t struggle against Eric. He nodded quietly.

Hans stepped out of the tub too and smiled. “This will be fun,” he said, taking Reid’s hand and guiding him across the bedroom, to the one door that was closed.

Reid swallowed hard as the door opened and revealed a room tinged red, with a bed, some weird structures, racks of whips and whatnot. Tears started dripping down his face as he was pulled in by the brothers, the door closing and locking behind him. He couldn’t leave, couldn’t escape. Even if he managed, he wouldn’t know where to go and would freeze to death outside.

“Don’t worry,” Eric whispered in his ear. “You’ll come to enjoy everything.” He smiled brightly at Reid as one of the structures was pulled up and Reid was bend over it, towel removed, his wrists and ankles secured.

Something cold dripped onto his ass and Reid bit down on his bottom lip, squeezing his eyes shut as a finger massaged the cold liquid around his hole. He was so tense, heart beating rapidly in his chest as he tried to find himself a safe space somewhere. And he found a memory that he adored, the wedding of JJ. But that memory got shattered the moment the tip of a finger pressed in.

Reid cried out, not used to the foreign sensation.

“Relax,” Hans said, gently raising his head and looking into Reid’s eyes. “You need to relax, or this is going to hurt, Liebchen.” 

The finger pressed in further and Reid squeezed his eyes shut, gasping. “S- stop,” he stuttered, trying to free himself, struggling against the structure that had him bend over. “Don’t, please. Let me go, I don’t want this. I can’t.” He was breathing harshly.

“Ssshh,” Eric said gently, grabbing hold of Reid’s cock with his free hand. “Relax,” he encouraged, stroking Reid’s member slowly. The meat hardened in his hand and he grinned.

“N- no,” Reid stuttered. “Don’t touch me, please. I don’t- I don’t want to enjoy this.” Reid sobbed, feeling hysterical by now as a second finger joined the first inside his ass. It burned, because Reid was way too tense.

“But I want you to,” Eric said, continuing. He chuckled as a moan escaped Reid’s lips, Eric’s thumb circling the slit of Reid’s cock. He picked up the pace a little, keeping his two fingers still, until he felt Reid’s body relax. “Good, you’re doing good baby.”

Reid couldn’t help himself, was being forced to enjoy this. He hated himself, fists clenching as pleasure overwhelmed him. He was still sobbing, wishing it was over already.

A third finger pushed in. Reid was unprepared for the combination of pleasure and pain, gasping and moaning. He tried to keep himself quiet, but found it pretty much impossible to do so. His belly filled with heat and it increased until it snapped.

Eric laughed, licking his fingers clean of Reid’s cum. He pulled his other fingers out of Reid’s ass and lubed up his cock, smothering it in the liquid to make it easier on Reid for his first time.

Then he pressed in. Reid was pulled from his bliss and screamed, but as he screamed, his mouth was filled with cock. The two brothers laughed above him as they set a brutal pace, not caring how much it was hurting Reid and how inexperienced he was.

Reid felt like he was being split in two, burning pain radiating from his behind. He had a hard time breathing, his mouth full, gagging when the cock forced its way into his throat, and his nose was clogged from crying. Tears spilled down his cheeks again and he tried to get a hold on something, but his hands were left flailing.

“Ugh, so good Liebchen,” Hans groaned, keeping a hold on Reid’s head as he thrusted in and out. “You took a good one, Brüder. We will enjoy him for quite some time, I think.”

Eric blushed and smiled brightly at Hans. “Thank you! He was just too pretty not to take!” He moaned, thrusting all the way in and closing his eyes. “He’s so tight.”

Reid wanted them to stop talking about him as if he was but a piece of meat. Reid focused on his breathing, trying not to pass out from the lack of air he managed to breathe in through his nose. He tried to forget about what was going on, diving deep into happy memories, but it was hard with the pain radiating through his entire body.

Eric picked up his pace, gripping Reid’s hips tightly. He dug his nails in, wanting to cause bruises. He loved bruises, even though they would hurt Reid. He wanted to paint the younger man black and blue all over his body.

Hans twisted his hands in Reid’s hair and groaned. “I’m so close,” he mumbled, looking towards Eric. Eric nodded, also close.

Reid would sigh in relief, as he could. Instead, he felt sick for what was about to come. They came at the same time, filling him up. Reid swallowed down what he could, not wanting to choke and die. Once the two man came down from their highs Reid was released.

Reid groaned, slowly getting up. A wave of nausea rolled over him and he rushed himself towards the bathroom, forgetting about the pain. He threw up in the toilet, hearing both man laugh behind him.

“Don’t worry baby,” Eric said, pulling Reid away from the toilet once he was done. He gripped Reid’s cock and squeezed it, making Reid gasp. “You’ll get used to this.”

“Leave me alone,” Reid yelled, pushing Eric away. He walked past the two and flopped down onto the large bed in the bedroom, Hans and Eric leaving him.  
\-----  
The jet landed and the team rushed out, immediately meeting with airport officers. They had already gotten the news that Eric and Reid had escaped, with the help of a third person. As they went over security footage, they heaved a sigh.

“Dammit,” Morgan growled, clenching his fists. Now they had to deal with a second, similar unsub. Perhaps a brother of their original unsub. They didn’t know. And now, they would have to find a needle in a haystack. Reid and the unsubs could be anywhere.

“Okay,” Hotch said. “Think. They must have some property in this country, hidden.” They called Garcia.

“Garcia, check for property that is far off any road or village or human establishment,” Hotch said, sitting down in a chair and accepting the cup of coffee from one of the officers. “Check within a 10 hour radius. They must have travelled quite a bit, the original car was dumped six hours from here.”

Garcia typed, not really having anything to say back. “I found some property,” she mumbled. “I’ve sent the addresses to your phones.” She disconnected then.

Morgan sighed. It would definitely be better if they had Reid back. The entire team was beginning to lose hope, to give up. But Morgan would never, not until they definitely knew where Reid was and had rescued him.

“Okay,” Hotch said. “Let’s go.” They hired some SUVs and updated the police, who contacted the nearest police stations at those addresses. They all filed into two SUVs and started their journey through Austria. They would have to take shifts with driving, so they could rest up in the mean while and devise a plan as well.


	7. Chapter 7

Reid curled up onto the bed, wrapped his arms around his legs and stared ahead of him. Which meant he happened to stare at the wall with the door to that room of Hell, which was closed. There were so many emotions rushing through his head that he had a hard time sorting through all of them. It made him feel numb.

A shiver ran down his spine and Reid grimaced, feeling disgusting all of the sudden. His thighs and ass were sticky, so was his belly. He got up and limped over to the bathroom, glancing nervously at the door leading to the house, upstairs. He sighed and shut the bathroom door, but found it had no lock.

“Fuck,” he mumbled. He turned the shower on, let it warm up before stepping under it. Reid closed his eyes and let the warm water run over his body. He turned the temperature up warmer, scrubbed soap into his skin. Tears mixed with the water but Reid didn’t realise, too fixed on trying not to feel dirty and used. But the feeling wasn’t going away and red spots started appearing, mixing with the water, and his skin burned.

Reid gasped. He took a deep breath and stepped away from the shower, staring down at his now bleeding arms. He hadn’t meant to harm himself. He would never do that. He shut the shower off and grabbed another towel, drying himself off before wrapping it around his waist. He turned to the sink and put his hands on the edges, then looked into the mirror. He noticed that his face was skinnier than it had been, skin and eyes sunken in a little. No doubt from the lack of nutrition.

He sighed and walked slowly into the bedroom, trying not to limp too much. He walked to the closet and opened it, frowned. There were only women’s clothes in it. Skirts, dresses and blouses. One tshirt, panties in all different colours. No jeans or sweats.

Reid pulled on black panties and the tshirt. His stomach growled but he wasn’t hungry, not mentally anyway. He felt too sick, too disgusted. He laid a hand on his belly and thought of the team, wondering where they were, if they were searching for him. He wondered if they would be even able to find him. He kind of doubted it, and he hated that he doubted his team like that. But Hans and Eric were good. This was unfamiliar terrain for the team.

As he let his thoughts run his mind, he didn’t hear the door atop the stairs open, or someone coming down. Reid jumped as a hand touched his shoulder and he flinched away, staring wide eyed at Eric.

“Relax,” Eric said, chuckling. “I’m not going to hurt you.” Eric sounded upset, and Reid hated that he did. He stepped away from Eric. 

“Leave me alone,” he said, walking towards the bed. “You already hurt me. And you’ll hurt me again, and again, because you can and you want to.”

Eric frowned. “Why are you being like this?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ve only been good to you, but you’re being a little prissy bitch.”

Reid raised an eyebrow at Eric, sitting down on the bed. “You kidnapped me, my team. I’m in a country I haven’t been before. I don’t know where my team is, what they’re doing. I’m worried they won’t find me, and you’ll turn me into, what was it that my boss said? ‘A sex slave, a woman.’ Yeah, I’m being a fucking little prissy bitch about that.”

Eric slapped Reid’s cheek, causing Reid’s head to snap sideways. Reid covered his cheek and glared at Eric. “Fuck you,” he hissed.

“Hans!” Eric called, fists clenched. “We will teach you a lesson. You should treat me, and my brother, with respect.”

Hans came down the stairs. He stopped besides Eric. “What’s up, little Brüder?”

“He’s being a bitch,” Eric said.

“I hate you,” Reid said, a challenge. “You kidnapped me, you’re keeping me against my will! I will not submit to you.”

Hans laughed at that, stepping towards Reid. “Yeah?” he asked, quickly overpowering Reid. He grabbed his wrists and held them above his head. “Eric, it’s time to break him.”

Reid didn’t like the sound of that, but he didn’t show it. He spat in Hans’ face. “Try me.”

Hans wiped the spit off of his face and dragged Reid over to the red room. Eric opened it, letting Hans and Reid in first. Reid was pulled over so bolts in the ground and forced to his knees, legs spread wide. His knees and ankles were secured. Reid tried to fight, but he was way too easily overpowered. His shirt was pulled off, his panties cut off with scissors. His hands were secured to chains from the ceiling, keeping them up, straining.

“Take the bull whip,” Hans ordered Eric. Eric nodded, walking to the rack with whips and taking the bull whip off of the rack and bringing it to Hans.

“Right,” Hans said, cracking the whip in the air.

Reid shivered and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to keep himself from freaking out. He couldn’t, not now. He couldn’t let them break him. He had to keep hope that his team would find him soon. And Reid didn’t want to be weak, or broken, when they found him. He wanted to be himself.

 

“Repeat after me. I am Slave number 00302. I will obey every of my Master’s commands. I will submit. I will beg them to do anything to me that they want to. I am theirs to use, and I will beg for mercy when they get tired with me.” Hans waited a few seconds, but Reid kept himself quiet. He sighed.

Reid cried out as the first lash landed across his back, hot and painful. He bit down hard on his lip, keeping his eyes shut.

“Repeat after me. I am Slave number 00302. I will obey every of my Master’s commands. I will submit. I will beg them to do anything to me that they want to. I am theirs to use, and I will beg for mercy when they get tired with me.” Hans waited a few seconds again, shook his head.

Reid groaned inwardly as the second lash landed across his back. Tears stung the corners of his eyes. The cycle repeated.  
\-----  
They had checked five properties so far within the first seven hour radius. Hotch sighed, filling up the car. He took the receipt from the machine and went to pay. Once done he called the group together to rethink.

“Okay. Let’s head out in pairs and search. However, be very careful. These two unsubs are incredibly dangerous.” 

The rest of the team nodded, forming up pairs. Rossi went with Hotch, Morgan with JJ, Prentiss with Blake, who had joined them several hours ago. Prentiss had come back and taken Blake’s place when Blake fell in. But now that Blake was back, they still wanted Prentiss on the team. Prentiss was smart and knew Reid well.

Once the teams were formed and they each had a car, they all headed to the next addresses they discussed to find, and visit. The next few hours proved futile. By now, they’d been searching for well over a day, with no update from Reid.

As they came together again to think their plan over again, Garcia called, in tears. 

“Baby Girl? What’s wrong?” Morgan asked, frowning at the laptop that showed her on the screen, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“Video,” she gasped, putting it up on their screen. “I can’t…” She stood up, pressed the play button and hurried out of her computer room back at the BAU office.

The video showed black for a few minutes, before Reid suddenly appeared, naked. There was blood on his shoulders and down his sides, on his thighs too. His head hung, he didn’t look up. He was seated on his knees, palms up. He seemed to be in a great deal of pain.

The team became silent, letting the video play out.

“Say it, slave,” Hans growled, cracking the whip in the air.

“I- I’m slave number 00302,” Reid whispered. He whined, voice cracking. The team noticed dark bruises around his throat and could only guess Reid had been choked, quite severely so.

“Go on,” Eric prompted, petting his head. “You can do this, little slave.”

Reid grimaced. “I- I will o- obey every of my Master’s commands. I will submit. I will b- beg them to do anything to me that they want to. I am t- theirs to use, and I will beg for mercy when they get t- tired with me.” A shiver ran down Reid’s spine, trying not to throw up even though he had an overwhelming urge.

“Again,” Hans demanded, keeping the whip at the ready. Reid shook his head. “I- I can’t. My voice…” He swallowed hard, body shaking. He flinched as the whip was raised in the air.

Hans lashed out, Reid cried as the whip cracked open skin on his chest, landing a clear cut. Blood trickled down his chest.

The entire team had to keep their gasps and anger at bay. Watching the clip was incredibly hard, especially as Reid looked so desperate to just give in, yet tried to look so strong at the same time.

“I- I- I’m slave n- number 00302,” Reid whispered after three lashes. It was so clear in his head, but his voice refused to cooperate. Another lash and Reid fell to his hands and knees, not able to keep position. Tears dripped down his cheeks.

“I w- will o- o- obey every of m- my Master’s c- commands.” Reid took in a sharp breath, reeling from the pain overtaking his senses. Another lash, this time his back as Hans had moved positions. 

“I- I- I will s- s- submit. I w- will b- beg them t- to do a- any- anything to me t- that they want to. I- I am theirs to u- use, a- and I will b- beg f- f- for mercy when they get tired with me.” Reid almost yelled the last part of the last sentence. He was shaking so badly with the effort to stay awake and alert, to listen to their orders.

“Good boy,” Hans said. The video cut off then.

Morgan growled and stalked off for a bit, needing to redirect his anger. He didn’t want to be angry at the team, couldn’t afford to be. He had to be sharp, like the rest of the team, to find Reid. When Morgan came back, he had calmed down significantly. 

Garcia called them. “I’ve found them,” she whispered, voice hoarse, probably from crying. “They’re two and a half hours up the mountains. Sending exact coordinates now.” She hung up again without further information.

The team headed out, driving the two and a half hour drive up the mountain, then walking the rest. The snow was thick here, and they weren’t exactly prepared for the cold. But it was okay, because they were finally close to Reid, they were finally going to rescue him. 

“There!” JJ whispered, spotting the cabin. The sun was rising. They pulled their guns and armed themselves. Morgan kicked in the door and they invaded the cabin.

Eric was the first they found, cooking happily, naked besides wearing an apron. He turned around and frowned, licking whipped cream off of his fingers. 

“How did you find us?” he asked, turning around and letting himself be handcuffed. He didn’t fight, knew he couldn’t anyway. He was outnumbered.

“We’re the best,” Morgan simply said, cuffing him to the table outside. He headed back inside, searching the rest of the cabin until they found the door to the basement. Morgan opened it and headed down, gun raised. The rest followed. JJ and Prentiss checked the bathroom, but cleared it. Another door, Morgan kicked it in and immediately pointed the gun at Hans.

Hans looked up and chuckled, standing over Reid. Reid was slumped, on his knees, but being held up by chains. The smell of blood overwhelmed the team, Reid was in a big puddle of blood.

“So you managed to find us, huh?” he said, quickly switching out a blade and pressing it to Reid’s throat. “That was impressively quick, I must say. Well, slave 00302 here did tell us you were apparently the best.” Hans pressed the blade against Reid’s throat harshly.

“Let him go!” Hotch shouted. “Drop the weapon, put your hands in the air and move away!” He was ready to shoot, but he knew he couldn’t without either hitting Reid, or getting Reid hurt as Hans would try his best to cut Reid’s throat. “Now!”

“And then what? Go to jail?” Hans laughed. He slapped Reid’s face, who blinked open his eyes. The light seemed so faded in them, so gone. He just stared straight at the team with no emotion on his face. 

“Get up,” Hans ordered and Reid did so, standing up on shaking legs. The team had to hold in their gasps, getting a better view of the cuts covering Reid’s body, the bruises.

Reid blinked and turned to Hans, who smiled at him. “You’re a good slave. You’ll continue to be a good slave, right?” Hans asked, gently grabbing Reid’s chin.

Reid nodded, as Hans switched the blade for his own gun, tucked in his back pocket. Hans leaned in and kissed Reid, who allowed it, kissed back even. Then, Hans put the gun against his head, and his head against that of Reid’s. Reid leaned into Hans.

“No!” The team shouted as the trigger was pulled. But Reid collapsed a second before the bullet would have reached him, the only casualty being Hans. The team tucked their guns away and rushed over towards Reid.

“The unsub is dead,” Prentiss declared. She got up and went to the closet she’d seen in the bedroom, frowned at the clothing pieces there. She returned with a blouse and panties, helped the team get Reid dressed at least a bit, then wrapped a thick blanket around him. They rushed him to a car, got him in. The unsub was thrown in the back and they put on their lights and sirens, rushing Reid off to the nearest hospital they could find.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not super happy about this chapter but, alas. Enjoy? Next chapter will detail more of what Reid suffered at Hans' hands.

Within the car, problems arose. Hotch and Prentiss tried to stabilise Reid but he kept bleeding. Hotch gently removed the blouse, looking at Reid’s back.

“This is a mess,” he said, worried. Skin hung loosely from the back, cuts were deep and numerous. Muscle and bone tissue were exposed and the wounds were already showing signs of infections. He pressed the blouse against the most severely bleeding wounds and sighed. “He’s not going to make it like this.” Hotch felt like throwing up seeing the damage to Reid’s back and chest, but he kept it in.

Morgan gripped the steering wheel tightly and sped up, regardless of the rough terrain and the snow on the mountain. He had to get Reid to the hospital in time. They couldn’t lose their youngest member, the smartest of them. They needed him.

Reid opened his eyes and stared up at a ceiling he didn’t recognise instantly. He blinked a few times before he recognised it was a car ceiling. He frowned and turned his head, seeing people around him. His vision was blurry and littered with black spots. The face was familiar, he’d seen it not long ago.

“Hotch?” the youngest whispered. He wondered if this was real, if Hotch was really there. He was sure he was still under Hans’ care, in that room, tied up, waiting for more lashes whenever he got it wrong. And he would get it wrong, because Hans would put him under a lot of pressure and force him to get it wrong. Just so he could whip him some more.

“Shh,” Hotch said, looking at Reid. “You need your strength.” Hotch forced a small smile but even through Reid’s hazy consciousness, Reid could see it was so forced that something was obviously wrong. Very wrong. But this wasn’t real, not to Reid. It couldn’t be. Hans had told him no one would find him, ever. And Reid had believed it.

Reid’s eyes drooped shut. “This is a dream?” he half questioned. “A test.” He grimaced, taking a deep breath. “I’m slave number 00302…” Reid opened his eyes and stared back up at the ceiling. He had to show that he knew, knew what to say. He didn’t want to be punished more by Hans, couldn’t take more lashes.

“Reid, please.” Prentiss held his hand. “You’re safe now. This is not a dream, or a test. Spare your energy,” she said. “You’ll be okay just, stay still.” Prentiss looked worriedly at Reid as she and Hotch tried to stop the bleeding.

Silence fell over the team as they drove, trying to stop the bleeding before Reid would bleed out or become too weak to stay alive. It proved to be a difficult task, but they eventually managed to stop the majority of bleeding and keep Reid awake.

“Finally,” Hotch said, heaving a sigh of relief. “We’ve stabilized most of the bleeding.” Hotch felt proud, but it didn’t last long. They were still far removed from the closest hospital and Reid looked weak.

The drive was excruciatingly long to the hospital, but Reid stayed awake and as alert as he could throughout it. He focused on Hotch and Prentiss as much as he could, but sometimes his eyes would droop shut and Hotch would try to get him to open his eyes. As time went by, it became harder though. All Reid wanted to do was give in to the darkness, let it surround him. But he tried, fought real hard to stay awake, for the team.

“We’re almost there,” Morgan said. “Just a few more minutes.” He’d turned on his sirens, making sure people got out of the way. When they finally arrived, nurses and doctors were already waiting.

Hotch opened the door and got out, letting the hospital staff take over. He was covered in blood, so was Prentiss. They watched Reid being wheeled off and sighed. The team handed Eric over to the police officers on site before heading inside, being guided to the waiting room.

Then they sat in silence, waiting. Hotch and Prentiss changed in the meanwhile, getting rid of their bloody clothing. They joined the rest of the team after, sitting down on the chairs.

They waited, for hours. Until finally, almost eight hours later, a doctor entered the waiting room.

“Spencer Reid?” He asked.

“Yes?” the team said in unison.

“How is he?” Hotch asked, getting up and shaking the doctor’s hand. They did a brief introduction while they walked to Reid’s room.

“Bad,” the doctor eventually said. He sighed and stopped in front of the door leading to Reid’s room. “We’ve seen some bad cases, but this beats all. We were able to close the less deep wounds, cleaned out the deeper ones. It will have to heal on his own. The scars it will leave…” He shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

“However, no muscle or bone tissue got severely damaged, so he should eventually recover fully. It’s going to take time. We want to run a rape kit, but only when he wakes up and gives us permission.” The doctor opened the door. “He needs lots of rest.”

Hotch nodded, thanking the doctor before heading inside. The rest of the team followed, piling into the hospital room where Reid laid in bed, eyes closed, hooked to several machines around and behind him.

“I should have never let him go,” Hotch mumbled, sitting down in a chair and looking at Reid. He felt so immensely guilty for what happened to Reid. He couldn’t imagine the traumas the youngest member must have gotten. Even though they found him fairly fast, the damage was unimaginable and it was Hotch’s fault for letting Reid go with the unsub in the first place.

“Hotch, you couldn’t have done anything,” Morgan said, looking at Reid. He sighed. “No one could. This entire case was a strain on us. We shouldn’t have taken it, should have let another team deal with it. But we’re head strong, stubborn. We found him. Now we need to focus on his recovery.”

And of course Morgan was right. Hotch nodded and leaned back in his chair. “Well, he’s under good care now. Let’s all get some rest, we need it. We haven’t gotten any in days.”

The entire team was exhausted, but they had kept going, for Reid. They couldn’t afford rest while searching for him. Neither of the members had slept much, if at all. So they all settled down in the tiny room and got some sleep.

Hotch woke up several hours later, sitting up and covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned. He looked towards the bed and saw Reid was awake.

“Reid,” Hotch said, getting up and walking towards the bed. “It’s good to see you awake.”

Reid blinked and looked at Hotch. “Hotch…” He frowned, taking a look around the room. “Why am I here?” he asked. “Where are Hans and Eric?”

Hotch sighed and sat down in a chair besides the bed. “Hans is dead. Eric is in custody.” He looked at Reid. “What you’ve been through… We were so scared to lose you. But all that matters is that you’re safe now.”

Reid looked at Hotch again. “I want to see Eric,” he said, sitting up a little. “I need to see him.” 

“What?” Hotch was confused. It seemed that Reid was completely off. Did he even remember the car ride to the hospital? Hotch thought for a moment, trying to think of what was wise to say.

“Reid, do you remember the car ride? We busted the house, found you in the basement with Hans. He was about to shoot himself and you, but you collapsed. We got you to the car and you were awake. We kept you awake.” Hotch gauged Reid’s reaction, who seemed to be confused.

“I remember,” he said eventually. Reid sighed, looking down at his hands. “My back…” He looked towards Hotch.

“You’ll be fine,” Hotch assured. “The doctor said you should recover fully. But it will take time. You’ve taken quite some damage.” 

Reid nodded and they fell into a silence. Reid going through his memories, sometimes frowning, or a shiver running down his spine. Hotch contemplating how to handle the next subject, a rape kit.

“Reid… We need to do a rape kit,” Hotch eventually said. He watched Reid tense up, fear growing in his eyes. Hotch took a hold of Reid’s hand. “One of us, any of us, can be with you at all times. But it’s important that we gather as much information as we can. The more evidence we have, the longer we can lock away Eric. Make sure he won’t ever get out of prison again.”

Reid took in a deep breath, pulled his hand away from Hotch and almost angrily stared ahead of him. His mind a whirlwind of emotions. He didn’t want to do a rape kit, didn’t want anyone to look at him down there. He was sure he was damaged pretty badly, knowing what Hans especially had put him through. Eric had tried to protect him, stop Hans. But Hans was the dominant, he decided on what happened.

“Fine,” he mumbled, shifting and laying down. He placed a hand on his stomach, not pleased. But Hotch was right. They needed all the evidence they could get, including evidence of the sexual assault that Reid had gone through.

“Okay.” Another silence, and then Hotch’s phone rang. He answered the call.

“Boy Genius?” Garcia asked, worried. She hadn’t gotten any updates since she’d sent the address where Reid had been at. She had hesitated to call, perhaps something had happened. But she needed to know.

“He’s right here,” Hotch said and looked at Reid. “It’s Garcia,” Hotch said, handing the phone to Reid.

The screen popped up with Garcia’s face and Reid looked at her as her smile turned to the most horrified expression Reid had ever seen on Garcia’s face.

“Oh my god…” She covered her mouth as she took in the bruises around Reid’s throat and face, his sunken in cheeks. “My poor baby.”

Reid grimaced and looked away. “I’m fine,” he said, a little colder than he had expected. He looked back at Garcia, who seemed completely stunned. “I am,” he persisted. “Couple of injuries and bruises, that’s it. I’ll make a full recovery, according to doctors.” He sounded distant, Reid tried to sound more like himself but he found that difficult.

“Okay,” Garcia said. “Just come home.” She hung up then, and Reid handed Hotch’s phone back to him. He sighed and closed his eyes.

Slowly, the rest of the team started to wake up. Reid didn’t really want to deal with them, or anyone. He just wanted to be alone and wallow in his hatred for himself, in his feelings of disgust and shame. But he couldn’t. He knew the team would stay at his side until he was allowed to leave and be on his own, which wasn’t going to be for a while.

The team tried to get Reid to talk, but he stayed silent. “I’m fine, just tired,” was his answer eventually and the team became silent. Reid had changed and everyone noticed. They hadn’t expected him to be the same, but still, how cold and distant Reid sounded came as a shock to them.

A doctor eventually came in and talked about the rape kit that Reid would go through. Reid just stared blankly at the doctor as he took in the information. Then the doctor left again to prepare a nurse and get everything arranged. Reid felt sick to his stomach, a need to throw up. “Is there a bucket or something?” he asked, clutching the gown covering his stomach.

JJ handed him a small trashcan and Reid threw up in it, emptying the already empty contents of his stomach. It was nothing but bile, and some blood. He put the bin down and sighed, closing his eyes.

He continued to throw up in the next several hours, and because blood was involved, doctors scheduled him for some scans after the rape kit. The team stayed by his side, watching Reid withdraw into himself more and more. They all felt powerless to do anything.

Eventually, a rape kit nurse came in, holding some papers and a tray with the needed medical equipment. 

Reid looked at everyone. “JJ, can you stay, please?” he whispered and JJ nodded. The rest of the team left to Reid could undergo his rape kit.


	9. Chapter 9

“Good afternoon,” the nurse said, once every one of the team was gone besides JJ. She shook hands with JJ and looked towards Reid. She set her stuff down, paper bags, paper forms, tubes, swabs, a large sheet, dental floss, envelopes and boxes. She also put down the tray on the metal table with medical equipment, needles and threat, clean water and saline.

She cricked up her stool so it was at the right height, opening Reid’s medical dossier. She scanned through it briefly before closing it and putting it aside.

Reid looked at all the equipment and shivered. He really didn’t want to go through with this, but he also knew how important it was. He glanced at JJ, who smiled gently at him. Reid looked down and took a few deep breaths, trying to remain as calm as he could. Once this was over, he wanted to forget and move on. But Reid knew it wasn’t going to be that easy, not for him and his eidetic memory.

“Alright,” she said. “To start off, I’m going to ask you a set of questions, Dr. Reid. They may feel very personal, but they’re important to answer as correctly as you can. I must stress that you can stop this exam at any given moment, do you understand?”

“Yes,” Reid whispered, giving a curt nod. He tapped his fingers nervously against his thigh under the blanket. His heart hammered in his chest, so he took a deep breath to relax a little.

“Okay.” She took one of the forms and a pen and looked at Reid. “Did you have any sexual contact three days or less, prior to your first assault?” she asked.

Reid shook his head. “No.” In fact, he’d never had any sexual contact with anyone. He was as much as a virgin as a virgin could have been, until Eric came along into his life, and ruined it. He hated Eric for it, but he could also forgive him. Because Hans had been so much worse, and Eric had tried to at least have Hans be more gentle. But Hans was dominant, he’d get what he wanted and Eric would always submit. But Eric had tried, Reid felt bad for him because Eric got punished for trying.

The nurse wrote something on the form, before looking back up at Reid. “Okay. Your first assault, can you describe in as much detail as you can the assault?”

Reid swallowed hard and looked down. “I uh…” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He really did not want to venture there. He remembered it perfectly well and it made him sick to his stomach to know that his dignity had been taken away at that moment. That he had been assaulted, that he had let it happen and that he hadn’t fought back like he should have.

JJ gently took Reid’s hand and squeezed it for comfort. She had no idea what Reid had gone through, but she saw how difficult it was for Reid to remember, how much pain it brought him. She felt incredibly guilty for not having been able to find him before anything happened to him, even though rationally she knew there was nothing she could have done.

“He took me out of the basement and closed the door,” Reid began. “He, uh… Wrapped his arms around me and moved his hands under the tshirt I was wearing.” He bit his lip, closed his eyes and took another deep breath. “He pressed me against the door and wanted to kiss me, but I moved my head away. I tried to tell him no, but he wouldn’t listen. He threatened to kill my friends in the basement as he pushed me to my knees.”

“You’re doing well,” the nurse said, writing down Reid’s experiences. “Take your time.”

Reid sighed and opened his eyes. He was quiet for a minute, letting the memory play in front of his eyes as if it was a movie. He tried to distance himself from it as much as he could, but it was impossible. 

“I wanted to throw up, but I didn’t. He pulled his shorts down and I tried to shuffle back, but he grabbed my hair. He then rubbed the head… the head of his…” Reid gulped and squeezed his eyes shut. “I opened my mouth, like he told me to. He just thrusted in, I gagged.” Reid swallowed hard, took another deep breath. “After a few thrusts, he told me to work it. He hit me in the face. I tried, but I didn’t know what I was doing, so he just continued thrusting into my mouth, into my throat. I had a hard time breathing, but he didn’t care. He came after several minutes, into my mouth. I had to swallow it down or I would choke.”

He remembered the fear of choking, how he didn’t want to go out that way. The taste had been disgusting and Reid had thrown up shortly afterwards in the basement’s toilet.

JJ squeezed his hand again and sighed, looking at Reid. She felt sick that someone could do that to him, and she knew it was only going to get worse from here on out. She wanted to kill Eric for what he had done to Reid, but she could take pleasure in the fact that he would be locked away for a very long time. And she was going to try her very best to get him locked away for the rest of his life.

“Okay, you did very well,” the nurse said, writing down the last of the details. She grabbed a second form and looked back at Reid. “Describing this is not fun, but I’m going to ask you to do the same with your second experience.”

Reid sighed and nodded. He explained his second and third experience, all oral rape experiences. Once while he and Eric were driving to the airport. And then once on the airplane in the bathroom. Eric would test his limit during those two experiences, choking him on purpose, hitting him. No one had noticed on the plane, because Reid had kept silent. Perhaps if he had screamed or yelled, someone could have stopped it, but he also knew how dangerous Eric was. So he’d shut up and let it happen, and he’d returned to his seat, feeling absolutely disgusted and ashamed of himself.

“Okay,” the woman said, grabbing a fourth file. “So once you were in Austria, here, did anything else, sexual, happen?” she asked, looking at Reid.

Reid swallowed hard, memories of the bathtub, and then being tied down, popping up, flashing before his eyes. He took a shaking breath. “Yes,” he whispered, looking down. “The two, they got me into a bath and joined me. After fifteen minutes or so, Eric, he uh… He rubbed up against me. I freaked out and got out, wrapped a towel around my waist. But Eric and Hans they… They would get what they want, anyway. So they took me to their… Uh…” Reid frowned, trying to find the word for the room he had been dragged in.

“Play room?” Reid bit his lip. “It had like, a bed, and structures, and whips and toys and…” Reid gasped, clenching his fists. “They tied me to one of those structures, they called it a breeding bench? They explained it was used for dogs, to keep them still when mating.” 

Reid had tears in his eyes. “They prepared me, but it hurt. And then they…” He bit down on his lip hard. “Eric thrusted into me, my backside… Hans into my mouth.” Tears dripped down his cheeks as he explained the rest. It made him want to throw up, but he didn’t. “They didn’t care for my pain, they were rough. I couldn’t do anything being tied down. They wouldn’t let me breathe properly…”

“Okay,” the nurse said. “You did really well.” She looked at Reid, letting him calm down for a few minutes and regain himself. “Did they do anything more like that?” 

Reid nodded. “Five times,” he whispered, staring down at the blanket. 

“Okay,” she said again, writing that down. She put the paper forms away and stood up, taking the camera.

“I’m going to ask you to stand and remove your gown,” the nurse said, looking at Reid. “I’m going to photograph any injury or bruise or mark that you have. Are you okay with that?”

Reid nodded, slowly moving out of bed, to stand. He let JJ undo the ties on the gown, not able to do that on his own. The gown dropped and Reid looked away. JJ covered her mouth with her hand, withholding her gasp as the full extent of Reid’s injuries came into view. She’d already seen the bruises around Reid’s throat and wrists, but seeing them around his thighs and hips hit her hard. Then the lashes. His back was nothing more but a mess, his chest looked better but had several deep lashes, stitched up and cleaned out. Those would scar, she knew they would. Reid would carry those scars for the rest of his life, as a reminder of what happened to him.

The nurse snapped many photos, before putting the camera down. She took one of the swabs and looked at Reid. “Okay,” she said. “Open your mouth,” she said.

Reid opened his mouth and let the nurse take several swabs. He closed his mouth once done, grimacing. The nurse combed through his hair several times to get some DNA evidence from there as well, before stepping back. “Okay, you can lay down on the bed and put your gown back on. Then please put your feet into the stirrups.”

Together with JJ’s help, Reid did so. He looked at JJ, who had tears in her eyes. He frowned and shook his head, and she smiled sadly at him. Reid looked away, feeling stupid for making JJ upset.

“Dr. Reid,” the nurse said. “This next part is going to be uncomfortable, probably painful. But I need you to relax as much as you can.”

Reid just nodded, closing his eyes as a cold, wet finger pressed against his hole. Reid took a deep breath and relaxed, the finger sliding in fairly easily. A second finger joined, prepping him quickly but gently, before inserting the speculum.

Reid shivered, tensing up briefly before relaxing again. He held onto JJ’s hand, feeling extremely uncomfortable. Pain flared up in his back and wanted to tell the nurse to stop, but he didn’t. He bit down on his lip and let her take the swabs and photographs.

“I’m going to stitch up some of those tears, Dr. Reid,” the nurse said, applying a local anaesthesia. She stitched up some of the bad wounds, then gently removed the speculum. She collected everything and stood up. “You’ve been very brave,” she said, looking at Reid. “I know how difficult this was, but you did really well.” She smiled at him, then walked away.

“Reid…” JJ looked at Reid, not sure what to say. Reid just pulled the blanket over himself and curled up, crying softly.

“Just…” Reid shook his head. He didn’t want to talk about it, or think about it. He wanted to vanish into the ground, but he couldn’t. He would have to face what happened to him, and he would have to deal with it for the rest of his life. And he hated it. He would never forget, this would haunt him forever.

Reid didn’t hear the door open and the rest of the team file in. He blinked and wiped his tears, then saw the team was in. They’d seen him cry. He frowned and covered his face with his hands, having a hard time trying to deal with the vents of the past couple of days.

“Reid,” Prentiss said softly. “It’s okay to cry. What you’ve been through… That’s not easy.” She smiled softly at him.

“No,” Reid mumbled. “I just want to be alone, please.” 

The team sighed, leaving the room to let him have some alone time. They understood.

“So, what now?” JJ asked, sitting down. 

“The doctor said they should be able to clear Reid in the next three days. We can fly home then and prosecute the unsub to the fullest extent of the law.” Hotch said down and sighed. 

“Let’s head back to a hotel and get some rest,” Rossi suggested. “We’re all tired, we could use some rest. There’s nothing we can do for Reid here.”

They nodded and headed back to the cars. They drove to the closest hotel, which was only a few minutes away, got themselves rooms and went to them.


	10. Chapter 10

The next three days Reid was treated for his stomach ulcers, which had caused him to throw up blood. Reid spent most of his days alone in the hospital, not really wanting anyone around. He would occasionally endure it, but never for long. He slept a lot, his way of trying to deal with everything that had happened to him. He barely ate, so got an IV every once in a while to make sure he got the right nutrients into his system. His back recovered well, the shallower wounds scabbing over and already closing up. The deeper wounds would take at least a few weeks to properly close up and recover.

On day four, Reid was finally cleared to go back home. A private plane was arranged for the team, they would take Eric with them but keep him separated from Reid. They didn’t want Reid to get into contact with Eric.

Reid let himself be wheeled to the plane and loaded in. He took the couch so he could lay down if he wanted to. He hated being so dependent on people, but he didn’t really have much choice. With his back healing still, he would have to be dependent for the next couple of weeks, until his injuries healed and he would be able to do things on his own.

He would be watched over, fed, bathed, all by his team members. In other circumstances he wouldn’t necessarily mind having his team take care of him if he couldn’t. But he didn’t want it right now, not with how he felt. The past few days, he’d tried to distance himself as much as he could from them, including Garcia. And he saw how much that hurt the members, but he did it for them. They didn’t need to see Reid self-loathing and hating himself. He didn’t want them to see him that way. And yet he knew he wasn’t going to be left alone. The more he distanced himself from them, the more they wanted to get close to him, know what was going on.

Once settled in, the plane took off. Reid stared out the window quietly for a while, thinking. He knew Eric was on this plane, but Hotch had right out refused his request several times to let him talk to him. Reid didn’t know why, he just wanted a chat. He realised he had developed a mild Stockholm Syndrome, since he missed Eric. He hadn’t told the team, didn’t want to disappoint them. It already disappointed him, that he could miss the person that put him through so much pain.

Hotch had a hunch though. The way Reid kept asking about Eric, to talk to him, he knew something was up. Hotch couldn’t blame Reid, but he didn’t like it. Reid had explained how Eric had tried to protect him from Hans, but it definitely didn’t look like that when the team had entered the building and saw Eric cooking. What Hans did was disgusting but Eric was just as much to blame for it as Hans was. 

But there was another problem. They had nothing much to prosecute Eric with, unless Reid decided to press charges. And right now, it seemed that Reid was unwilling to do that. Hotch hadn’t asked him yet, wanted Reid to have time to recover first. But unless Eric confessed or Reid pressed charges, once back in the USA, they would have to let Eric go after several times because they had no proper proof. Even the rape kit got little, and most of the evidence from there came from Hans.

A scream from the closed off, front area of the plane attracted the team’s attention. Several hours had passed since they took off, but the flight was long. The curtains were pulled back and Eric stood there, gun in hand. The security guard laid unconscious on the ground, but not dead. Eric didn’t want to harm or kill anyone, especially not so high up in the air. He only wanted to talk to Reid for a bit, but he knew the team wouldn’t let him. They would keep Reid away from him. So he took matters into his own hands. He looked towards Hotch. 

“You, go tell the pilot to land at the closest airport,” Eric said, narrowing his eyes. “And hand me your gun, all of you.”

Reid looked at Eric and frowned, sitting up slowly as he watched the team hand over their guns and Hotch go the pilots. Reid swallowed, wrapping his arms around his knees as Eric stored the guns in the back, away from the team’s reach.

“Don’t you fucking dare tell them there’s danger, just to land,” Eric growled, warning Hotch and Hotch nodded. He wouldn’t risk it, but he had another plan.

Eric approached Reid then, holding the gun he had in his hands but not seemingly wanting to shoot anyone. The safety trigger was on still. Reid looked up at Eric as Eric sat down beside him.

“Reid… Just give me a chance,” Eric said softly, looking upset. He looked down. “I’m really sorry for what I did, under Hans’s pressure. I didn’t want to, but he forced me to. I can make you happy…” He looked back up at Reid, tears in his eyes.

“You’re not taking him away from us,” JJ said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You hurt him, and if you dare touch him again I will end you.” She wouldn’t let him, not again. Reid was a part of this team, this family. She would fight to keep him here.

Reid shot JJ a look before focusing back on Eric. He sighed softly. “I can’t,” he whispered. “JJ is right. I don’t want to leave my team again,” he said, looking at Eric. Reid reached out and wiped a tear away, then looked down. 

“I won’t make you leave,” Eric said, taking Reid’s hand in his own. “You can stay with them, solve your cases. As long as you come home to me at night. I won’t make you do anything I promise.” Eric looked desperate. 

“Never,” Rossi said, chuckling. “You think we’ll just let you go? After all that you’ve done to Reid? Let him come back to you every night? Absolutely not. Quit dreaming,” he said. Rossi was more amused than afraid. Eric couldn’t go anywhere. Even if he decided to kidnap Reid again, the team would find him again, they always did. They wouldn’t let Reid go, ever. They would always keep searching for him.

Eric growled and pulled the safety trigger off, pointing the gun at Rossi. “You need to shut up. I’m not dreaming,” he said, trying to stay calm. He didn’t want to hurt or shoot Rossi, or anyone else. He wanted to show Reid that he cared, so Reid would come with him. He didn’t want to take Reid away from these people, just have him alone every once in a while. And he didn’t want to go to prison. He’d heard the stories coming from there.

Hotch came back, taking one of the guns that Eric had put in the back. He clicked the safety off and pointed it at Eric. “I should shoot you right here and now, but I won’t. Put the gun down, turn around so we can handcuff you and put you back in your place.”

Reid looked at Eric. “Eric, please… Do as you’re told.” He took the gun from Eric and clicked the safety back on, sighing. Hotch pushed Eric back to the back and handcuffed him to the table there, then closed the curtains and put the gun away. He sighed, sitting down. The security guard would wake up soon and watch over the unsub.

“Are you okay, Reid?” he asked. He was worried, he just wanted to help Reid, even if Reid didn’t realise that.

Reid nodded, turning his back on the others. “I’m fine,” he said, curling up on the couch. He felt so conflicted. He wanted to go with Eric and leave the others behind so they wouldn’t pity him, but he couldn’t just leave the team. He cared for Eric but he hated him as well. Reid was confused and conflicted and he didn’t know how to handle his emotional state.

“You’re not,” Rossi said. “Reid, you can talk to us. If there’s anything you need, you can tell us. We’re here for you.” Rossi wasn’t so sure what to do. He’d handled a lot of difficult cases and people, but this beat all of them. Seeing Reid so closed off and distant from everyone, Rossi had never expected to see him like that. Reid was close to pretty much every member of the team.

“We know you’re going through something difficult,” JJ explained softly, feeling sorry for the youngster. “You know you can talk to any of us.” She rubbed her arm and wished she could do something for him, but as long as he wouldn’t allow them, there was little they could do.

Reid sat up and looked at them, frowning. “I just want to be left alone.” He stood up and headed to the space Eric was in, but Hotch stopped him. Reid looked up at Hotch, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Let me pass,” he demanded. “Eric won’t hurt me. You’re wrong about him.”

“Reid,” Hotch said softly. “Eric is dangerous, I don’t want you there with him. You say he won’t but he already has. And he will again, with every chance he gets. You’re not safe with him, only in danger.”

“Leave me alone. I can handle myself.” Reid stared Hotch down angrily. “I’ve dealt with him and Hans, I know how to deal with them. You don’t. You don’t know him, but I do.” Reid looked down for a moment, before walking past him, with much difficulty due to his back, and vanished behind the curtains. They heard the excited voice of Eric, until it died down.

“Stockholm Syndrome?” Rossi questioned, looking at Hotch. It couldn’t really be anything else. The way Reid seemed to care about Eric was something Rossi wasn’t prepared for, hadn’t considered. It was something he didn’t really understand, but then, from the looks of it, Reid didn’t either. Reid had looked conflicted, yet he still went back to Eric.

Hotch nodded and sighed, rubbing his temples. “Yeah, not severe but…” He looked towards the closed curtains. “Enough to make him want to go back to Eric.” He shook his head and looked towards the team. “If Reid doesn’t want to press charges, we won’t be able to hold Eric unless he confesses to the things that he has done.”

“We have that video,” JJ said, raising an eyebrow. “Isn’t that enough to prosecute him?” 

“The video got deleted, Garcia isn’t able to get it back,” Morgan said. 

“Oh…” JJ frowned, wondering how that happened. Garcia was the best, so why she couldn’t get it back somehow was a miracle for Eric. She sighed, worried for Reid.

Hotch got up and quietly checked on Reid, frowned when he saw Reid asleep, head on Eric’s shoulder, and Eric running his hand through Reid’s hair. He opened the curtains, decided to make sure they could see the pair at all times so Eric wouldn’t pull anything.

“Let’s get some rest, for now. We have a long flight ahead of us.” Hotch yawned and rested his back against his chair. “We’ll need our energy when we get back. We’ll either need to convince Reid or get Eric to confess. And that’s not going to be easy.”

“At least he looks peaceful for now,” Blake mumbled, looking at Reid as he slept. “That’s the most peaceful I’ve seen him be since quite some time.”

“Yeah,” Prentiss said, and sighed. She looked at Reid, feeling bad for him. Reid didn’t deserve to go through what he had gone through. No one deserved that, but they didn’t choose what they wanted to go through, what they deserved. Life had its own way of playing out, and although humans could influence some of it, most of the time life did what it wanted anyway.

The team settled down, each taking a turn to watch over Reid as he slept against Eric, until they landed back in the USA.


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of the hours were spent watching Reid as he slept. None of them could deny Reid’s peaceful features as he slept against the man that had kidnapped him, put him through unimaginable traumas. Morgan knew what it was like to go through sexual assault, but what Reid had been through took it a step further.

Morgan found it hard to watch Reid so close the unsub, and the unsub running his hand through Reid’s hair as if they were a couple. He had to contain his anger, because if he got angry here, it wouldn’t end well for him or the unsub, or both of them. But he stayed awake and glanced occasionally in the unsub’s and Reid’s direction to make sure that Reid was okay.

As the plane touched down, the rest of the team woke up. Reid woke up too, shuffled away from the unsub and groaned. He slowly stood up and leaned against the door frame, trying to steady himself. 

“Wait,” Eric said, reaching for Reid’s hand and pouting. “Stay with me, please?” He pulled his best puppy dog eyes.

Reid swallowed and shook his head. Morgan came to his side and Reid gave a small thankful smile, silently letting himself be guided out of the plane by Morgan. The first person he saw was Garcia and Reid swallowed, accepting her hug quietly.

“Oh my god you’re back!” Garcia said, smiling brightly. “I’m so happy you’re back! I was so worried for you.”

Reid nodded. “Yeah, I’m glad to be back,” he mumbled, looking towards the plane as Hotch and Rossi escorted Eric out. He looked down, leaning heavily on Morgan as light-headedness took over his senses.

“Reid?” Morgan asked, worried for the younger agent. He frowned, watching Reid press his hands against his head.

“My… Head…” Reid gasped and clutched his stomach, a wave of nausea rolling over him. Morgan quickly helped him into the nearest bathroom, sensing that Reid was feeling sick, Reid falling to his knees there and throwing up in the toilet. He leaned back against the stall wall and closed his eyes.

“Reid, this isn’t good,” Morgan warned, concerned. He looked the youngest over but couldn’t figure out why Reid had gotten sick so suddenly.

“I…” Reid forced himself to get up, another wave of nausea coming over him. He clutched his stomach as Morgan escorted him out. 

“I need a medic!” Morgan called. JJ took out her phone and dialled the emergency number, looking at Reid. He was even paler than usual, looking weak and sick and ready to collapse at any moment. Hotch and Rossi came over once they had handed Eric off to the police officers.

Reid’s eyes fluttered shut and he took another gasping breath. “I don’t… I don’t want to go back to a hospital,” he whispered, grimacing. “Please…”

“Reid, you have to,” Hotch said calmly. “You’re not well, you need to see a doctor.” He looked Reid over gently, but couldn’t see physically what was causing Reid’s sudden sickness.

Reid swayed a little, before collapsing. Luckily, Morgan already holding him, caught him in the moment. He gently let Reid down and frowned. “This is not good,” he said, perplexed.

“Rossi, go to Eric and see if he knows what is up,” Hotch said as medics streamed in and surrounded Reid. “I swear, if he dared harm Reid in any way…” Hotch shook his head, he seriously wanted to murder the bastard.

Rossi nodded and left, Blake coming along with him. The rest stayed with Reid, let him be strapped onto a gurney and escorted into the ambulance parked outside. JJ decided to ride in with the ambulance to the hospital while the rest arranged to get some cars and drive to the hospital.

During the ride, Reid’s condition became worse as he broke out in a fever, sweat covering his body. His heartrate slowed down to a very unsteady, slow rhythm. 

“Was he poisoned?” one of the medics asked as he worked on trying to stabilise Reid.

“I don’t know,” JJ said. “Not likely. We’ve been with him the entire time,” she said, holding Reid’s hand. She looked at the youngest member. “Please Reid, you gotta pull through.”

Reid’s heart rate dropped more, and then flatlined. JJ had tears in her eyes as they arrived at the hospital, quickly getting Reid out and rolling him into the building. JJ followed until she was stopped by a nurse and then broke down, crying.

Hotch, Morgan, Prentiss and Garcia arrived a few minutes after, finding JJ crying in the hallway.

“JJ!” Hotch called, rushing over to her. “What’s wrong, what happened?” He helped JJ to a chair and let her sit down, nothing more but extremely worried for the youngest agent of the team.

“They asked if he was poisoned and then he flatlined,” JJ explained through her sobs. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself down, wiping her tears. Garcia was in tears now too, sitting down beside JJ and taking her hand.

“He’ll pull through,” she said, trying to be optimistic. But even Garcia had a hard time being her optimistic self. 

Hotch heard his phone ring and took it out of his pocket. He answered the call. “Rossi?” he questioned.

“The unsub escaped,” Rossi said. “We arrived here, and Eric was madly shooting around. We ducked and hid, tried to get him, but he managed to start a car and drove off. I’ve already put an alert out on the car that was stolen, but he’s going to ditch it.”

“Fucking figures,” Morgan growled, clenching his fists. 

“How’s Reid?” Blake asked.

“Not good,” Hotch explained. “The medics think he might have been poisoned somehow, he flatlined as he arrived at the hospital. No updates yet.”

“Okay,” Rossi said and sighed. “Keep us updated. We will work on getting Eric back.” Rossi hung up then.

Hotch put his phone away. He sat down in one of the chairs as well. They waited, there was nothing else for them to do. As the minutes turned into hours, they became increasingly more anxious. But finally, after two and a half hours of waiting without an update, a doctor approached them.

“Dr. Reid?” he asked, looking at the group as they all got up. He gestured for them to follow him. “Dr. Reid shows signs of being poisoned. We’ve taken samples of blood to test, but so far nothing.” He stopped in front of a door. “He’s weak, so unless we figure out what it is, we can’t do anything and he’ll have to try and fight it off on his own. We can assist with some meds, but we need to know what exactly he was poisoned with to help him properly.”

“Okay, thank you doctor,” Hotch said, opening the door to the room. Reid was awake, but looked absent, not really there. He blinked and looked at the group as they came inside.

“Reid?” JJ said softly, taking his hand and sitting down beside him. 

“Yeah,” Reid answered, looking at JJ. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, looking up at the ceiling.

“What for? You did nothing wrong,” Hotch said, confused. He took a seat besides JJ and looked at Reid. “Unless you know what you’re poisoned with.”

Reid looked at Hotch briefly. “Only Eric knows,” he said. “And only Eric knows the cure.” He looked at the clock in the room. “And I bet that he’s escaped, by now, and is fleeing.”

“How did you know this information?” Morgan asked, sounding more angry than he meant to. He watched Reid flinch and cower for a moment, before the youngest pulled himself together. 

“Eric told me,” Reid mumbled. He swallowed hard. “Let him come here.”

“Are you crazy?” Prentiss asked, perplexed.

Hotch’s phone rang again and Hotch took it out. He frowned at the unfamiliar number and answered it, putting the phone on speaker.

“Reid?” Eric said through the phone.

“I’m here,” Reid said. “So is my team.” He groaned, forcing himself to sit up a little, even though he felt extremely weak and ready to pass out again.

“I can cure him,” Eric explained. “But I want all of you, to leave. Reid and I will deal with this on our own. I want all of you outside the hospital.”

“No way,” Morgan growled. “Tell us what you poisoned him with you bastard!”

“No,” Eric said. “You have 30 minutes. If Reid’s room isn’t empty then, I won’t come and he’ll die.” Eric hung up without further notice.

Garcia covered her mouth, tears pouring down her face. Morgan hugged her gently and tried to calm down his anger. Being angry wasn’t going to work right now, they had to devise a plan to cure Reid and catch Eric.

“Just go,” Reid whispered, looking at them. “I will deal with him.” He swung his legs out of bed and sighed. “You’re not going to catch him like this and I don’t want to die, not yet. Just please.”

“Reid,” Hotch said. He looked at the youngest. “Whatever you are planning…” Hotch sighed and gave in, Reid giving him a cold look. Reid had changed more than he had expected, that combined with his Stockholm Syndrome, Hotch didn’t trust him to do the right thing. Hotch gave his loaded gun to Reid. 

“Okay, we’ll leave.” Hotch looked at the rest.

“What, no!” Morgan looked at Hotch, surprised. “Are you crazy?” 

“If Reid wants to deal with this on his own then he will. We, are leaving.” Hotch pointed at the door and they left, protesting Hotch’s decision but being powerless to do anything else. Reid was an adult, he would deal with it.

Thirty minutes passed and Eric appeared, opening the door to Reid’s room. Reid had dressed himself and was sitting in a chair, looking pale and weak. He raised his head as Eric stepped inside the room and smiled a little at him.

Eric took out a syringe and injected Reid with it, then threw it in the trash can. He sat down besides Reid and took his hand. “Come with me,” he said softly.

Reid looked at Eric and sighed. “I can’t,” he said softly. He looked down. “We can’t have a healthy relationship, Eric. You hurt me, you kidnapped me, my team…” He shook his head, slowly standing up. “Let me take you back to the police station, please.”

Eric frowned and got up as well, pulled the gun from his back pocket and clicked the safety off. “You will come with me,” he growled, pressing the gun into Reid’s back. “Walk, back exit.”

Reid sighed and started walking, but being as weak as he was, almost collapsed until Eric caught him. Eric helped him to the back exit, pressing the gun to Reid’s side. He opened the blue car door and helped Reid into the passenger’s seat, then walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. He clicked the safety back on and looked at Reid.

“You love me,” Eric said boldly, starting the car and driving away from the hospital. Reid got a fleeting glance at the team as they yelled, then looked towards Eric. He swallowed, looked down and frowned.

“I know you do. You wouldn’t have come to me on the plane if you didn’t. You want to be with me, you just can’t admit it. But that’s okay.” Eric shrugged lightly, steering the car onto the highway. “Because I will admit it for you.”

“It’s called Stockholm Syndrome,” Reid mumbled. “I don’t love you.” He looked out the window, leaning his head against it. He closed his eyes and sighed softly. “I hate it. I hate that I developed Stockholm Syndrome. I hate you.” 

Eric gripped the steering wheel tightly but didn’t say anything, he just focused on driving. They ditched the car for another after an hour and continued on their trip. Reid eventually drifted off to a light sleep, tired and recovering still from his injuries and being poisoned.


	12. Chapter 12

Reid was awoken several hours later. He groaned and swatted at the hand that was on his shoulder, not wanting to wake up. At least when he was asleep, he was at peace and didn’t have to worry or think about anything. Besides that, nothing hurt while he was asleep. He was safe and at home in his sleep. He didn’t favour waking up from that. “A few more minutes, please,” he mumbled, keeping his eyes firmly shut.

Eric chuckled and nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Let’s leave him be for a few minutes,” he said, definitely not to Reid. Reid frowned but kept his eyes closed, trying to drift back into sleep, but being unsuccessful. He sighed and opened his eyes after a few minutes, observing Eric with another man.

His stomach twisted into knots, bile rose up his throat but he swallowed it down. He had hoped to be alone with Eric for however long he was with him, until his team found him. Apparently not though, and Reid wanted to cry at the prospect of having two people molest him regularly. He unbuckled from his seat and opened the car door, goose bumps instantly covering his body as the cold air hit him. They were somewhere high up, and Reid frowned. He looked towards the two men, who were now looking at him. 

“Come here,” Eric said, holding out his hand towards Reid. Reid came closer, but tried to keep some distance. Not that it worked, Eric manhandled him until Reid’s back was firmly pressed against Eric’s chest and hands wrapped around his waist, keeping him there.

“This is my good friend,” Eric said, smiling. “He’ll help us cross the border into Canada and continue on our journey. That’s why he’s brought his van.”

Reid eyed the stranger cautiously. He was tall, taller than Reid, muscular with short brown hair and striking green eyes. The van looked like one of those hippie vans, probably to hide that the stranger and Eric had kidnapped someone.

“Hey,” the stranger said, stretching his hand out. American accent, Reid noted. “My name is Jackson,” the stranger, now named Jackson, introduced himself.

Reid glared at him, which Jackson chuckled to. “You’re adorable, we’re going to have so much fun,” he said, opening the back doors to the van.

Eric smiled, releasing Reid but keeping a hold on Reid’s wrist. Reid looked into the van and paled at the sight of the cage, trying to take a step back but Eric’s hold tightening to an almost crushing grip. The cage, consisting entirely out of metal, was definitely not the kind of cage that Reid had seen before. It resembled a dog cage much, but with steel poles screwed in for a certain position.

Reid realised quickly that it was a face down as up position. His feet and head would stick out. To make matters worse, there was space to insert a pole with whatever on it where the ass would be. Reid knew that a dildo or whatever would be inserted there. He bit down on his bottom lip as his mind imagined himself in that position, and bile rose up his throat.

He turned away from Eric and Jackson and threw up, tears sticking the corners of his eyes but he dared not letting them slip. He clutched his shirt, his stomach upset at the prospect of what was to come this journey.

Once Reid had thrown up the empty contents of his stomach, Eric tugged him back up, still holding his wrist. “This will be your transport,” Jackson explained, licking his lips. He smirked at Reid, who was struggling to get his wrist free. “It will keep you safe, secure and most importantly, away from public and keep quiet.”

Eric turned to Reid, smile big and excited. “Isn’t that cool? You’ll be so gorgeous.”

“No,” Reid said. “Absolutely not. I will not go in there.” He finally pulled his wrist free and backed away. His back was hurting, he was tired. He couldn’t believe that Eric wanted him in that contraption.

Eric grabbed him again, by the hair this time and forced him to his knees. “You will,” he growled, angry now. “I will force you into it if I have to, but you will go into that cage and you will stay there until we’ve arrived at our final destination.”

Reid had tears in his eyes, grabbing onto Eric’s wrist and staring at the cage. He shook his head, but they apparently didn’t care. Of course they didn’t. All they wanted was to hurt Reid, even if they convinced themselves that they didn’t. 

“Eric, please…” He looked up at Eric, eyes desperate and wide, pleading. Tears were now dripping down his face.

“You will,” Eric said, a little calmer now but still angry. He let go of Reid as Jackson pulled the cage back and opened the front part. Reid noticed he would have to crawl backwards, onto whatever the two wanted into him. He looked down.

He was too weak to fight, he knew that. He had no option but to do as they wanted, even if it left him exposed, naked, vulnerable. A sob managed to make its way past his lips and he broke down there.

“Calm down,” Eric yelled, throwing his hands up in frustration. “Fucking hell, it’s not that bad.” He clenched his fists as Reid continued crying, not able to calm himself down.

“Get the sedative,” Eric mumbled and Jackson obeyed, getting a vial and a syringe. Reid didn’t notice until his arm was grabbed and the needle was stuck into his skin. Reid yelped and tried to pull his arm back, but to no avail and a clear liquid was forced into his veins. 

“What’s that?” Reid whispered, staring at the syringe with wide eyes. 

“It’s a sedative,” Jackson explained. “You’ll calm down so we can get you into the cage,” said. “There’s no use fighting it.” He shrugged simply.

Reid started feeling drowsy, his vision blurring at the edges as two pair of hands grabbed him and hoisted him into the van. His clothes were removed from him and Reid tried to fight, he really did but there was no way for him, with his body not cooperating with what he wanted.

He was forcibly bend over and kept that way as fingers prodded his ass, a cold substance smeared around his hole, before fingers sinking in. Reid closed his eyes and tried to sink deep into a happy space, but he couldn’t. He was losing consciousness quickly as more fingers entered him and then pulled out and he was forced onto his knees. He was backed up into the cage until something pressed against his ass. Reid fought again, but the two were stronger than him and eventually, Reid was fully seated into the cage, ass up, head down. Hands tied down to the steel frame, ankles too so his feet stuck out. The cage was closed around his head and a collar secured to keep his head in place.

As the last of his consciousness ebbed away, Reid could hear laughing and clicks, before his world grew completely dark.

When Reid came to, the van was moving. Eric was sitting beside the cage, reading a book. Reid groaned, feeling extremely uncomfortable. His back felt like it was ripping open again, his arms were sore, his ass hurt. He wondered how long he had been out, how much longer he would be in this position. He wasn’t sure if he could take much longer.

“You’re awake,” Eric noted, sounded happier than earlier. Eric scooted closer and ran his fingers through Reid’s hair, smiling. “You’re so pretty like this,” he said. “I should have you in this position more often. I will have you into this position more often.” He smiled to himself.

Reid whined, not liking the sound of that, but didn’t comment. His mouth felt dry and he licked his lips. “Can I have some water?” he asked, looking at Eric, carefully observing the man’s reaction.

Eric grabbed Reid’s chin roughly and glared down at him. “You make no demands,” he growled. “Call me Master.”

Reid swallowed hard, the collar around his neck uncomfortably tight. “Can I please have some water, Master?” he mumbled, a wave of shame washing over him.

Eric nodded, grabbing a bottle of water from a bag and uncapping it. He poured some into a dog bowl and put it down in front of Reid. “There you go.”

As if being in this degrading position wasn’t enough, Reid stared down at the dog bowl with water in front of him. Eric was dead serious and Reid wanted to die right there and then and never come back again. But he was really thirsty, and he needed some fluids into his system, so he craned his neck and started licking up the water to the best of his abilities.

Eric laughed, obviously amused by Reid’s struggle, but not doing anything about it. Reid glared at Eric, earning him a sharp slap against his cheek and his water being taken away.

“You do not look like that at me,” Eric growled, grabbing Reid’s chin again and coming closer. He unzipped his jeans and Reid tried to pull back, shake his head.

Eric grabbed onto Reid’s hair tightly and grabbed his cock, pulling it out of his boxer shorts and pressing the tip against Reid’s lips.

“Open your mouth,” Eric ordered.

Reid shook his head, to which he got a nasty slap against his other cheek. He hesitantly opened his mouth, Eric thrusting right home.

Reid gagged, bile rising up his throat but he had to swallow it down. Eric didn’t let him adjust, didn’t take it easy on him. He thrusted hard and fast, forcing his cock all the way in, before pulling back out and repeating. Reid had tears streaming down his face, throat burning with the need to throw up, the cock thrusting into his mouth. As he was fucked, his body moved with the rhythm, causing himself to slightly fuck into the dildo.

It was all a little too much for Reid. He had a hard time handling the situation. He wanted to be back home, even though he didn’t necessarily want to be around his team. He wanted to sink into the ground and never exist, wipe every trace of his existence, ever. That was impossible, of course, though. Reid would leave with his traumas for the rest of his life, carry the scars forever on himself.

Reid fought against his restraints as his air was blocked off, unprepared without warning. He tried to convey the message to Eric that he couldn’t breathe, that the edges of his vision were speckling black.

But Eric just smiled down at him, keeping him there until Reid almost passed out. He pulled back, allowing Reid to breathe in air. Reid went into a coughing fit, not aware that Eric was jerking himself off until the man came, right onto Reid’s face.

Reid grimaced and hung his head, still trying to calm his rapidly beating hard. He blinked, disgusted by the sticky cum covering his face now.

“Good boy,” Eric said, releasing Reid’s hair and smiling. “Now thank me, properly.”

Reid swallowed hard and closed his eyes. He yelped as he was slapped once more, not answering quick enough.

“Thank you… Master.” Reid gagged at the words, waited for another slap but Eric was silent, and then he moved out of Reid’s sight. Reid just sat there, because there was nothing else he could do. His knees felt horribly painful, his ass sore, mouth sore. He closed his eyes and tried to drift off to sleep, but found it utterly impossible. Instead, he remained awake for the remainder of the drive, which was at least another several hours for Reid in this humiliating position, before the car stopped.

Reid wasn’t hopeful though. He heard the door open and raised his head, looking out over the trees, trying to find signs of civilisation, but there was none. Only his two kidnappers.

Eric and Jackson appeared in his vision and Reid swallowed, but felt relieved as they opened the cage and started undoing his restraints. Reid slowly crawled forward, until nothing was stuck up his ass anymore, and stepped out of the vehicle, stretching his painful limbs. Needle pricks covering his body as the blood rushed back into his arms and feet.

“We’re here,” Eric said happily, fetching another colour. A bright pink one, with a tag “slave” hanging on it. Reid let Eric clasp it around his neck, not protesting. Then he was guided into the house. It was similar to the other houses he’d stayed at while kidnapped, two levels and a basement. Of course, Reid would spend most of his time in the basement.

He was practically dragged down a set of stairs. Reid took in the basement, a bed, frames, toys of all kinds, but also a bathroom. Reid longingly glanced at the bathroom, wanting to wash his face and get rid of the sticky white substance still covering his features.

Eric let him go and smiled. “Go get cleaned up. We’ll eat dinner, and then we’ll have some fun.” Eric laughed at Reid’s discomfort, then moved up the stairs and shut the door.

Reid rushed into the bathroom and turned the shower on, not waiting for it to warm up before stepping under it. He turned the heat up as much as he could handle, felt his back burn with open wounds, saw blood go down the drain. He washed his face and his hair twice, then just closed his eyes and stood there.

Eventually, he turned the shower off and dried himself off, tossed the towel in the hamper and sighed. No clothing this time. Reid chewed his bottom lip.

He was retrieved for dinner a few minutes later, was forced onto his knees at the table and handfed by both Jackson and Eric. He was treated like a dog, worse even. But Reid could find himself better in this, adjust better to that, than be in a romantic kind of relationship with these two sickos. So he adjusted, let them feed him until they were done, and then let them guide him back down to the basement.


	13. Chapter 13

Garcia hadn’t slept in the three days that Reid had been missing, again. She’d closed her eyes here and there, she had really tried to sleep, but found herself unable to. None of the team could sleep, really. They were worried, with no trace of Reid. They’d fought so hard to get him back, and now he was gone again and they had no idea where to. Didn’t know where to start. They had looked at Reid as the victim, at Eric as the unsub but it didn’t give them any answers to where Reid might be. It was difficult on all of them.

Garcia slumped in her chair and stared at all the brightly coloured things around her desk to cheer her up, but nothing could. She sighed and closed her eyes, just desperately hoping that Reid was okay. She wanted him back unharmed, even when she knew that he wouldn’t.

Reid wouldn’t come out of this unharmed, no one would. What he had already been through was enough to scar someone for life, but going through whatever he was now, Garcia couldn’t imagine that Reid would be the same when they found him.

_If they found him._

She shook her head. Garcia couldn’t think like that. They would find him eventually, even if it took years. She would never give up, no one of the team would. They would find their genius and bring him home somehow. She didn’t care when and how, but they would. Though she hoped sooner rather than later. The longer Reid spend with his kidnapper, his rapist, the more traumatised the kid would be.

Most of all she terribly missed him and wanted him back. She would miss any member if gone, but having an actual member kidnapped and going through traumatising things, it made her miss Reid all the more.

A call came up on her computer screen, Garcia opening her eyes from the sound. She stared at the screen for several minutes, then answered the call. The caller ID had been unknown, so she didn’t know what to expect. To her surprise, Reid’s face and naked chest popped up on the screen. The first thing she noticed were the dark circles under his eyes and the black and blue bruises covering his throat, the old and new cuts on his chest.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hands as she stared at the screen. She quickly called the other members of the team, who entered her office and gasped as well, taking in Reid’s dishevelled, bruised and tired appearance.

“Garcia, try to trace the call,” Hotch ordered. This was their chance at finding Reid. Any other leads had dried up and there was just so little they could do at the moment.

A small laugh came from Reid and he sighed, leaning his head on one hand. “It’s no use,” he mumbled. He gently rubbed his bruised neck with his free hand and grimaced. Yesterday had been especially brutal and his throat was incredibly sore from last night’s session. Eric had been fucking him from behind, Jackson has tirelessly choked him, but not enough for Reid to pass out. Reid had almost begged Jackson to let him pass out, to cut off his air supply long enough for Reid to die. But he knew Jackson wouldn’t have done that. He enjoyed torturing and hurting Reid.

“Try,” Hotch said, looking at Reid. He took a seat in one of the chairs Morgan and Rossi had brought in. He was worried for the youngest agent, the bruises especially, and whatever injuries they couldn’t see.

“Reid, how are you?” JJ asked, wishing she could embrace Reid in a hug. It hurt to see him like that, and not know where he was. She wanted him back, but he was so far away from them. This was the first time they had any news on him in three days, and she was happy to see him. But seeing him so hurt, in so much pain, made her heart break.

“Let’s not talk about that,” Reid said, looking away. He sighed and shook his head. “We all know I’m not doing too well.” He sounded cold, so cold, none of them were used to such a harsh treatment from Reid. They couldn’t really blame him, he had to deal with all of this after all. And he did that in his own way. But it was hard to hear how distant Reid had become, to see him so exhausted.

“Spencer!” Eric called in the distance, then appeared within view of the camera. He smiled and waved at the camera, then turned to Reid. “I found you a collar,” he said excitedly, whipping the grey collar from behind his back. The name tag read “whore”.

Reid cringed but let Eric put the collar on. Eric closed the clasp, making it fit extra tight but not tight enough to restrict Reid’s breathing, just to hurt against the bruises. He smiled and grabbed hold of Reid’s chin, turning his face. He pressed his lips to Reid’s, and Reid allowed it, let him to avoid punishment. Eric then moved away, out of sight.

“We will find you,” Rossi said, looking at Reid. He had hope, though it was getting hard to hold on to. He’d seen horrible things in his life but this beat all, beat too close to home. He couldn’t imagine what Reid was going through, didn’t even want to think of it. Reading the tag made a shiver run down his spine. Reid was no whore, yet Eric, the unsub, called him that. Rossi would definitely give the unsub a good punch once he got his hands on him.

Reid laughed at that, leaning back in the chair. A better view of his chest now, showing off the older, healing cuts and fresh new ones. Reid was naked but he didn’t care, couldn’t care.

“Yeah,” he said. “Eventually you will.” He shrugged and leaned his head on his hand again, almost bored it seemed. 

“We’re really trying,” Hotch said, getting frustrated with Reid’s tone and behaviour. He knew his agent wasn’t in the best place and was just trying to deal with everything, but he hated how Reid acted cold and careless around them.

Reid raised an eyebrow, then smirked. “You’re frustrated, boss.” He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. “You need to get yourself laid. After all, apparently it works wonders.”

The rest of the team froze as Reid challenged Hotch. Their leader clenched his fists, but remained silent for a bit. “We’re going to get you home, but if you’re going to act like a bitch, I’m not going to talk to you.” Hotch rose from his chair and left. He hadn’t meant to say that, but he couldn’t really care at the moment. But Reid’s behaviour showed they needed to get to him fast, because the longer Reid was under the unsub’s care, the more distant and changed Reid would become. Hotch was scared of losing their youngest member.

Garcia sat stunned, wondering how her Boy Wonder could even say such things. She sniffed, tears filling her eyes but she tried to work, nonetheless. It was difficult to focus on it though, there was no single trace. The signal bounced off of poles in Russia, China and North Korea. There was simply no way to trace him, track him down. How the unsub did it, she didn’t know. It took a genius, a true genius to set up such a tracing system. But apparently the unsub had managed nonetheless.

Jackson appeared in view and plopped himself onto Reid’s lap, smiling at the camera. “Hello!” he said happily. “You’re his family, huh?” He laughed. “Not for long, though.” He wrapped an arm around Reid’s neck and pecked his cheek.

Reid pushed him off, receiving a harsh hit to his face. Reid covered his cheek with his hand and glared at Jackson. “Please, fuck off…” He paused for a second. “Master.” He smirked slightly, knowing his behaviour would have consequences. And although he’d rather avoid those, he hated Jackson with the entirety of his heart.

“Bitch,” Jackson growled, grabbing onto Reid’s hair and dragging him off his chair, then forcing him to his knees. “Don’t talk to me like that you little shit. You have no idea what I can do to you.” He glared down at Reid. “I will castrate you if you continue to talk like that to me, cut off that pretty little dick of yours as an ‘accident’ too. Pretty sure Eric wouldn’t mind, you don’t need it anyway.” He laughed at Reid’s fearful face. “Pierce your little nipples,” he said, giving one of his nipples a harsh twist.

Reid yelped and looked down, trying not to show the tears that threatened to stream down his face. He couldn’t cry, not in front of Jackson and not in front of the team. He had to be strong, show the team that he was strong. Even if it was so far removed from the truth.

“Leave him alone!” Morgan growled, feeling powerless as he watched the screen. He wanted to murder the bastard holding onto Reid’s hair, but he couldn’t. He most certainly would though the moment he got his hands onto this unsub.

Jackson turned to the screen and chuckled. “Awh, you’re angry.” He slapped Reid again, a little harder this time. No apparent reason, just to anger Morgan and the rest of the team some more. “Suck my cock,” he ordered.

Reid gave in, removed the belt, pulled the pants down and grabbed hold of the man’s cock. He got to work, not even hesitating. Jackson was a terrifying person and Reid didn’t want to cross him too much. There was only so far he could go, Jackson would definitely hold true to that promise and Reid’s rather not lose any part of his body.

Garcia had to look away. She couldn’t handle seeing Reid being forced into such things. It was extremely upsetting to her.

Reid gagged as Jackson shoved his cock all the way down his throat and grabbed hold of his neck, squeezing tight. He swallowed down the cum before being thrown to the floor. Reid wiped his mouth with his hand and watched Jackson leave after having tucked himself back in. Reid sighed, sitting back down onto the chair, not facing the screen, looking down.

“Just… Please try to find me as soon as you can,” he mumbled, moving to end the call.

“Wait,” JJ said softly. “Please, just stay here?” she asked. She watched Reid contemplate, then shake his head and end the call. JJ sighed and hugged herself quietly.

Hotch came back into the room. “Let’s all go home and get some rest,” he said, watching the team. This was really taking a heavy beating on the team, and Hotch needed them as clear minded as possible to find Reid.

The team left and Hotch sighed, staying behind at the office. He stared down at Eric’s file, feeling like he’d missed clues that would lead them to Reid. But he’d already gone over the file so many times that he didn’t know what he was missing. Everyone was getting frustrated.  
\-----  
Reid sighed, sitting on the bed that was his. He looked down at his hands. He really hadn’t wanted to videochat with the team, it gave him a longing to home. A longing that he didn’t want, that made everything more difficult. The more he longed to home, the harder it was to accept the situation he was in, and do what he needed to do to survive.

Especially with Jackson. Eric was kind and gentle, always patient with him. Jackson was harsh and liked to punish him, did it often. Reid wondered why, what he’d done to deserve such wrath and hatred. But he didn’t know and honestly didn’t care. Jackson wasn’t going to become kinder if he knew, he would only become harsher on Reid and hurt him more and more as time went by.

Reid looked up as Jackson came in, carrying that sick smirk of his. Reid knew this wasn’t going to be an easy night, Eric was probably already sleeping leaving Reid to fend for himself.

Jackson carried rope with him and Reid sighed, let himself be tied up in the most uncomfortable position, hands on his back, attached to his ankles and then he was hoisted into the air by hooks in the ceiling.

Reid sunk deep into his own space as Jackson explained the events for tonight.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: castration. o: whoops. Also, nipple piercings.

Four days passed after that. Reid was withdrew into himself more and more, got himself attached to Eric for being gentle, tried to shy away from Jackson. He wasn’t looking forward to calling the team, but he knew they wanted updates and he really wanted to see their faces. After all, he wanted to go home, but he had lost hope that it would happen.

It had been a week since he’d been abducted from the hospital. His back had healed some more, it was a slow process. Eric took great care of his back, was always making sure it didn’t reopen. The other wounds had healed and scarred over. Reid protected himself by withdrawing into himself. He had to keep himself sane and that was the only way he could do it, become a shell.

Reid situated himself in front of the computer and turned the camera on. Eric entered the call and kissed Reid’s cheek.

“I’ll be back to check on you later.” Eric left then.

Reid waited until the call was answered. The other members were already surrounding the computer, including Hotch. He swallowed, still feeling guilty for challenging him. He hadn’t meant to, he simply couldn’t help himself. It was his defence mechanism.

“Hey,” he croacked, voice cracking. His throat was sore, he could barely talk. Reid forced a tiny smile, then looked down, didn’t need to see the sadness and worry and most of all, pity in their eyes.

“Hey,” JJ said. She sighed, feeling really bad for Reid. His throat had healed, but still bruised. He wore the collar and it made her angry. She wanted to rip it off and burn it, but she couldn’t. “How are you?” she asked gently.

Reid shook his head and looked up again. “Not good,” he mumbled. He sighed and looked at all the faces, taking them in, remembering them. He was certain he wasn’t going to last long. He’d lost a significant amount of weight, and with Jackson becoming rougher with him every day, he wouldn’t make it to the next call, probably.

“Reid,” Hotch said, factual. He showed no emotions, just a neutral face. “Do you have any clue in what country you’re in?”

“Canada,” Reid answered, looking nervously back at the door. “It’s definitely Canada, close to the border to Alaska,” Reid said. He looked back at the screen. “High in the mountains. A cabin.”

Hotch wrote that down and nodded. “Okay, good.” He got up and left the room. Reid watched him leave and gulped, noticing how tense Hotch was still. He sighed and rubbed his eyes, feeling tired. He wanted to sleep and never wake up again.

“We’ll find you,” JJ said softly. “Just hold in there.”

Reid sighed and looked up at JJ, specifically. He shook his head. “I can’t,” he whispered. He touched his collar and frowned, hand enclosing around the tag. “I can’t handle this. I thought I could, but I can’t. I can handle Eric, but Jackson…” Reid shook his head and looked down. “I’m not going to last much longer.”

“Don’t say that,” Rossi said, clenching his fists. “Be strong, Reid. We know how difficult this is, but we will find you, soon. We’ve gotten new leads, someone saw Eric in a village. We’ll be heading down there this afternoon.”

Reid swallowed and looked up again, staring at the screen, their faces. The blood drained from his face as Jackson called for him. He swallowed hard, looking down. “Yes, Master?” he asked softly as Jackson appeared in view.

“You’re not saying where you are, are you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes. He grabbed a handful of Reid’s hair and tugged his head back, making Reid look up at him.

“No,” Reid said. He gulped, eyes wide with fear.

Jackson grabbed Reid’s throat and sat down in his lap. “You’re lying,” he growled, squeezing tighter. Reid’s hands came up to Jackson’s wrist, trying to tug away hand. “You whore,” Jackson said, getting off and pushing Reid to the ground. “You obviously want to die, no?”

Reid didn’t respond, curled in on himself. The other team members frowned. JJ wished so badly she could hurt Jackson, slap him and take Reid into her arms.

Jackson kicked Reid hard in his chest and clenched his fists. “You’re a complete, utter, worthless whore, you are. We keep you safe and sound, give you food and water, shower time. This is how you repay us, repay me!? I build this place you fucker.” Jackson grabbed Reid by his throat and tossed him against the wall.

A sickening crack resounded through the room and Reid slumped to the floor, leaving a trail of blood. He was conscious though and flinched as Jackson approached.

“Please,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.” He cried out as a fist connected with his cheek and Reid covered his face, trying to protect himself from the pain.

Jackson snickered. “You’re sorry? The fuck you are, bitch.” He kicked Reid again, fully aware the team at the other side of the screen could see everything, hear everything. “Now we’ll have to move, burn the cabin down and take you somewhere else. Good thing I have lots of friends with slaves like you, they can teach you some proper manners.”

“Leave him alone!” JJ yelled, slamming her fist down on the desk. Garcia jumped, startled. She had tears running down her face, mouth covered as she watched Reid being kicked around and getting hurt. JJ stood up, trying to calm herself down. She sat back down and took a deep breath. “We will find you, and I promise you I will hurt you when I find you,” she said.

Jackson laughed and turned to the screen, dragging Reid along with him. He took the knife from his back pocket of his pants and pressed it against Reid’s throat.

“By the time you’ll find him, he will be nothing, no one, but an obedient slave.” Jackson dug the tip into Reid’s skin, making blood drip down his neck.

The call ended then. Reid stared at the screen, wishing he could see his team members, whisper a goodbye. Tears dripped down his face, his head throbbed with the hit against the wall. He swallowed as he was dragged out of the room and down the basement by Jackson.

Reid was secured to one of the frames, an x-frame. He struggled, terrified, as he watched Jackson.

Eric came downstairs as well. “Jackson, why is Reid tied to the frame?” he asked, walking over to Reid. “Oh, you’re bleeding.” He frowned and turned to Jackson. “The fuck you’ve done with my slave?”

‘Slave’, Reid thought. He shivered, but at least Eric was so much more gentle with him, so much kinder.

“Your slave needs to learn proper manners. He told those FBI people where we are,” Jackson explained, turning towards Reid and Eric with a piercer. He smirked at Reid’s terrified expression.

“Is that true?” Eric asked, turning back to Reid. 

Reid nodded. “I just want to go home,” he said, keeping an eye on Jackson. “Please.”

Eric clenched his fists. “You deserve what Jackson’s planning.” Eric stepped away and sat down on the floor, against the wall. He didn’t want Reid to get hurt, but Reid needed punishment. Eric had been nothing but kind to Reid.

Jackson approached and Reid gulped, trying to free himself. It was no use, though. The frame and the chains were too strong.

Jackson grabbed one of Reid’s nipples, twisted it and pulled on it, then pierced it.

Reid cried out, tears streaming down his face. “Stop! Please!” He tried to beg, but Jackson didn’t care. He grabbed one of the piercings he’d laid out and held it against Reid’s nipple, then nodded. He pushed the ring piercing through the fresh puncture holes and secured them. The same was done to his other nipple, until both his nipples were pierced with ring piercings.

Reid looked away and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He gasped and cried out as Jackson twisted his nipples again, then attached some weights to the rings.

“What’s next?” Jackson questioned. “Should I castrate you?” he asked, grabbing hold of Reid’s balls and squeezing them tightly.

Reid opened his eyes and shook his head. “Please don’t. I’ll do anything but please don’t do that…” He bit his lip. “Eric, Master, please, I beg you.”

Eric got up and walked over to Reid. He sighed, clearly disappointed. “You really hurt my feelings,” he said, cupping Reid’s cheek gently. “I’ve done so much for you. I love you, so dearly. Maybe castrating you will teach you a proper lesson.”

Reid shook his head and leaned into Eric’s hand. “Please, anything, I’ll do anything. Just please don’t do that.” He sounded so desperate, too desperate. If his team members would see him like that, he wondered how they’d think about him, being so weak.

Eric looked at Reid, then Jackson and shook his head. Jackson rolled his eyes.

“He will not learn his lesson,” Jackson argued. “He’s going to continue to disobey unless we break him. And we start by castrating them, supplementing him to constant training and punishment if he doesn’t obey. You want an obedient little slave that loves you. Let me turn him into one.”

Eric looked back at Reid who shook his head wildly. Eric thought about it and then turned back to Jackson. “Okay,” he said, stepping back.

“No!” Reid screamed, struggling against the bonds. “You can’t! Eric, please! I promise I’ll obey and do my best please! You can’t let this lunatic do this to me!”

“Just relax,” Eric said simply, walking up the stairs. “Jackson, call me when you’re done.”  
\-----  
Garcia sighed, entering her office and sitting down on her chair. She started up the computers and all the screens. Yesterday’s videochat was still running through her mind, the sickening crack, the blood. How fragile and hurt Reid had looked. She wished she could rescue him there and then, but she couldn’t. They weren’t entirely sure where he was situated, though they had a good perimeter set up.

The rest of the team had left to go to Canada. They had landed by now and were setting up their stations and questioning people. Garcia sipped from her coffee as she waited for the system to start up and open her emails.

When Garcia opened one of her emails, she stared at it for a few seconds, before running for a trashcan and throwing up. She immediately sent them over to the other members tablets, before closing the email and crying.

“Oh my god…” JJ covered her mouth, tears filling her eyes. She stared at her tablet with the email from Garcia, eyes wide, in shock. No, this couldn’t be true. How could they do this to him? 

“What’s wrong?” Hotch asked, walking into the room. He looked at the photos and frowned. “Did they castrate him?”

“Yes,” JJ whispered, sitting down. Her knees were shaking. Prentiss wrapped her in a hug, upset and sick knowing what they’d put Reid through.

“He wasn’t even sedated, the bastards!” Morgan growled. He wanted to punch the bastards, really felt the need to punch something. But he kept himself in check. He had to. They were so close to finding him, they couldn’t give up now.

“We’ve found a cabin,” one of the police officers called. Hotch looked at his team. “Take a few minutes to recollect yourselves, then get geared up.” He walked to the officer.

“It looks abandoned, though,” the officer said, looking at Hotch. “Looks like they left several hours ago.”

“Dammit,” Hotch said. “We’re still going.”

Fifteen minutes later they were on their way, full speed cruising through the snow. When they arrived at the cabin, after a good three hour drive, they stormed the building, but found it abandoned indeed.

“Okay, lets gather as much evidence as we can,” Hotch said, watching his team. They looked defeated. “There must be a clue on where they’re going next.”


	15. Chapter 15

JJ and Morgan started in the room where they’d watch Jackson beat Reid. There wasn’t much there, besides the blood trail on the wall and the pool of blood beneath it. They took swabs of the blood and every other surface where they’d seen Reid.

JJ sighed and stared at the blood, wondering how someone could hurt Reid like that. The moment she’d heard that crack, she was terrified that he would be dead. To her surprise, Reid had been alive and conscious, though looking confused and in bad shape. Her heart ached for what Reid had been through, she wanted him back home. This was by far the most difficult case they’d had in forever.

Morgan looked at JJ and gently squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll find him,” he reassured her, sounding confident. It didn’t matter how long they would take. One day, they’d find him and rescue him. They’d help him become himself again if necessary. Morgan couldn’t give up, couldn’t think of the other scenario, where they wouldn’t find Reid.

Hotch and Rossi were down in the basement. The smell of blood was overwhelming, it was smeared everywhere on the walls, messages written in them.

_‘Reid won’t ever be himself again.’_

_‘We’ll break him.’_

_‘He’ll be an obedient little whore.’_

_‘You’re no longer his family.’_

The place reeked of vomit as well, mixed with the scent of sex. Still so fresh but at least hours old. It was devastating that they’d found him after a week, but were too late. Now, they had to start all over again.

Hotch sighed and started taking swabs. It was difficult for him to concentrate on his task. Knowing that this was all Reid’s blood, knowing what he’d been through in this room. He felt sick. But, in order to find Reid, he had to concentrate and collect all the evidence he could. They needed to turn this entire place upside down, surely there must be a clue about where they would be going next. Friends, perhaps. 

Rossi had almost thrown up the moment he stepped foot into the basement. He couldn’t imagine what Reid must have been through down here. It was sickening. The smell hung thick in the air, making him nauseous. 

He’d turned the room upside down, rummaged through the toys and whatnot, shivered here and there. But he hadn’t found any evidence of where they could have taken Reid to next. So he and Hotch had gone back up.

Prentiss and Blake had turned over the rest of the cabin and were almost done gathering every piece of evidence. Prentiss opened a drawer and took the notebook out, studying its outside appearance for a bit, before opening it to the first page.

“Jackpot!” she called, the rest of the team gathering around her.

“Here are names and addresses of where they may have gone next,” Prentiss explained, showing the notebook to Hotch.

Hotch took it and scanned the pages, then nodded. There were a lot of addresses, far away from each other. It would be a daunting task to visit each address to find Reid. But this was their best lead so they had to try. There were well over 30 addresses in this notebook, including a few overseas. Hotch knew there was a chance that Reid had been taken overseas, again, considering Eric had done it before.

“Okay, let’s go back and discuss our strategy,” Hotch proposed, the team nodding. They took all the bags of evidence and left the cabin, getting back into their SUVs and heading back down to the village.

They had to be smart about this, after all. If they visited one of the addresses and Reid proved not to be there, those people could warn Eric and Jackson. That was not what they wanted. That could get Reid in more trouble, and taken away further, out of their grasps. The longer Reid stayed with the unsubs, the more afraid Hotch became that when they found him, he would never be the same again, too traumatised, or dead.

Once back at the village, they sat down around a table and started discussing their options.

“We have to be smooth and careful. These are a lot of addresses to go through, and we’ll have to do it around the same time. Otherwise, others could be warned, our unsubs could be warned. And if they are warned, we might end up losing Reid.” Hotch looked at the address book. “There are also addresses overseas.”

“This is going to be difficult,” Rossi commented, thinking. Hotch was right, of course. “We can’t go visit every address individually unless we all get them into custody.”

“If those people are all like Eric and Jackson, we could arrest them though one by one.” Morgan looked at Hotch. “If they have ‘slaves’ as well, there is a real chance those people were kidnapped once too and then taken and forced into the lifestyle.”

“It could still warn people. We don’t know how closely they keep in touch with each other,” Hotch said, leaning back in his chair. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Okay, let’s all get some sleep and think this through. We’ll gather tomorrow morning with fresh minds.”  
\-----   
Reid had been conscious throughout the entire ordeal. Jackson had gagged him though to muffle his screams and begs a bit. Didn’t do much for Reid, he screamed until his voice gave out and then continued to try and scream.

Once Jackson was done, he’d untied Reid. Reid had dropped to the floor and curled up, sobbing. He was a mess, his pride was hurt. He felt truly lost now, not sure that he wanted to return to the team anymore. The worst part was that Jackson had taken photos, and Reid had a feeling in his gut that those photos were meant for the team. Jackson had fucked him hard and rough, adding to the pain Reid had already been suffering from.

He had thrown up on the floor then as Eric had come down into the basement. He had approved of Reid’s physical appearance, then had dragged him up out of the basement. Two or three hours passed, Reid wasn’t entirely sure. He had drifted in and out of sleep, trying to sleep away the pain, the memories. He was woken up and dragged outside, into the snow, butt naked. Reid had shivered and watched as the van was prepared and the cage was set up.

Reid had fought hard, not wanting to go back into that godforsaken cage, have a dildo stuffed up his ass, his mouth gagged for wherever they were going. But he’d lost anyway and they’d put him in, forced the biggest dildo into his sore hole and locked him in tight, no movement possible for him. They’d forced his mouth open with a ring gag, came in handy for whenever one of the two wanted to fuck his mouth. And that’s how Reid spent his time, drifting off and sleeping as much as he can until he was violated next.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed, probably at least several days. He was taken out of his cage occasionally and put through a heavy training routine. Whenever he didn’t obey fast enough, he’d be kicked around and hurt. His chest was littered with bruises and Reid guessed he may have a broken rib or two. His head was still throbbing from the beating earlier, his hair matted with dried blood.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Reid was weak. Obeying orders was difficult, luckily Eric saw that Reid needed rest. Eric had carried him down into the basement, Jackson and three strangers following. They had cuffed Reid to the bed with his wrists so he couldn’t escape, had forced him to eat and drink, then left him alone to rest.

Reid had slept for a while, woke up feeling better. He took the time to take in the room, eye all the drawers, probably littered with toys and torture devices. They had whips, a lot of them, and whatnot. Reid felt sick, but he couldn’t move to throw up so he swallowed it down.

He wondered if the team had found the cabin, what their reaction was to seeing the basement, Reid not being there. He sighed and curled up on the bed. Everything was such a mess.

When Reid woke up again, Eric was there, uncapping a bottle of water. Reid gratefully drank from the bottle, throat still sore and dry. He’d lost his voice, and although it was slowly coming back to him, he could barely talk.

Eric looked at Reid. “Will you behave?” he asked, whipping out the key to the cuffs.

Reid nodded and let himself be uncuffed. He rubbed his wrists, red lines covering them. The cuffs had been too tight for his liking. He looked at Eric, terrified of what was going to happen to him.

Jackson came down into the basement too, followed by the three strangers Reid had seen earlier. He gulped, wondering who they were. One of them wore a collar and Reid wondered if he’d been kidnapped too and forced into his situation. It was outright pathetic. But at least that person had some clothes on, boxers and a tshirt. Reid was completely naked, vulnerable to the world.

“Get up,” the only woman said, stern look on her face. She definitely wore the pants around the house. Long, blond hair, she reminded Reid a little of JJ, which made his stomach turn into knots. 

Reid slowly got up and looked down, keeping his hands at his sides.

“Proper position, slave,” she demanded, taking his hands and folding them behind his back. She nodded, more content now. “My name is Mistress Alexandria. I will help these two gentlemen train you in the best possible ways.” 

Her hand reached out and Reid flinched, hands coming up to protect his face. She chuckled, instead grabbing his crotch. She gripped his cock tight and stroked it, making the member harden in her hands. Reid felt embarrassed and tried to push her away.

“Did I tell you to move?” Alexandria asked. She frowned and glanced at the man with the collar, who turned to the rack of whips. 

“Take one of the paddles,” the woman ordered and the slave obeyed, taking one of the paddles instead of one of the whips. He returned to his Mistress, bowed his head and presented the paddle to her.

“Perfect,” Alexandria said. She turned back to Reid, who stared at the paddle in her hands with wide eyes. “Bend over, slave. Hands on the bed.”

“No,” Reid croacked, taking a step to the side. “Leave me alone! I’m an FB-“ Reid turned away, heaving as his throat protested with a severe coughing fit. Once he was done, the woman frowned. Reid swallowed and turned to the bed, putting his hands on it and closing his eyes. For an FBI agent, he was weak.

“You will count every hit, and then say ‘Thank you, Master Eric’.” Alexandria swung the paddle a few times, getting a good grip, before landing the first blow.

Reid cried out, fists twisting into the sheets. “One. Thank you, Master Eric,” he muttered. 

Second blow, Reid cried out again and shivered. Tears were running down his face from embarrassment and pain. “Two. Thank you, Master Eric.”

A total of twenty blows landed on his ass, by then red and by tomorrow bruised. Reid sunk through his knees once done, burying his face in the sheets as he tried to deal with the pain. The woman laughed, obviously enjoying his misery.

“You were an FBI agent, slave. You’re no longer a person, but an object to use and abuse. Master Eric has every right to your body, you have none. Try not to forget that.” Alexandria turned to Eric and Jackson. “Let’s head upstairs and drink some tea.” She smiled, Reid catching a glimpse of it, before they left.

Reid sniffled, crawling onto the bed and curling up. He gently touched his ass and grimaced, each touch painful. He closed his eyes and fell into a fitful sleep, trying to dream of home.


	16. Chapter 16

As the next few days, weeks? passed, Reid felt himself being shaped into what Mistress Alexandria wanted him to be. Every day was a new training session and every day, he found it somehow easier to just let go and obey, instead of try to be strong and rebel. The more he rebelled, the harder he was punished, he figured. So he obeyed the commands so he wouldn’t get hurt.

It however didn’t work with Jackson. Reid was terrified of Jackson, never wanted to see him ever again, but he kept coming down anyways to play with him. Jackson loved his nipple piercings, loved to tug on them and play with them. Reid hated it, despised every moment Jackson was with him, touching him. Jackson made him feel truly disgusted, gross.

He was never kind or gentle, always rough and harsh. Loved to punish him for absolutely nothing, forced Reid to be disobedient at times so Jackson could punish him. Reid had wanted to tell this to Eric, Alexandria, but he couldn’t. It was Jackson’s word against his, and Reid knew he wouldn’t win that argument. He was viewed as a mere object, a toy to play with. He was stripped of his rights, stripped of everything that he once was.

He’d lost weight, bones now becoming clearly available. Eric tried to get him to eat and drink regularly, but sometimes Reid wouldn’t eat for days. Having this irregular eating pattern and not being able to hold much food anyway made him feel weak, exhausted. He had always been a skinny kid, but never like this. Never so much that almost every bone in his body could be visible. Not in the way that he could count his own ribs, feel his hip bones. 

The only person who was ever kind to him was Eric.

Eric often came down in the basement and they would just spend some quiet time together. More often than not, Reid found himself curled up against Eric’s side, and Eric would run his fingers through his hair. It was the only time Reid felt somewhat okay. And in those moments, Reid felt himself being more and more attracted to the man that got him into this mess in the first place. It didn’t matter anymore, though. Reid needed someone he could seek comfort with, and Eric had become that person.

Eric occasionally put him to work, making him suck off Eric’s dick or making him fuck himself on Eric’s dick. Reid didn’t really mind, he could take his time, use his own pace, instead of being forced to gag on cock like Jackson always made him do, or being fucked roughly and harshly by Alexandria, who loved nothing more but to hurt him. He truly despised that woman, how she resembled JJ so much that it sometimes made him cry.

Reid had locked away all his memories after three days under Mistress Alexandria’s rule. Because she was good at chipping away at his mind, making him forget who he was. So Reid locked away all memories so they would be safe, so he could remember when he wanted to. 

He’d stopped himself from thinking about his team, where they were, if they were even searching for him. He couldn’t afford to think about them, not if that meant he would get upset. He had to show as little weakness as possible.

Yet on certain days, Reid wished he knew what they were doing. Like right now, curled up against Eric’s side and letting Eric run his fingers through his hair. Reid shifted and sat up. His injuries had now completely healed, and he was careful to avoid new ones.

Uncertain, Reid looked at Eric, who looked curiously at Reid. He gulped and looked down, wondering if it was wise to ask about his team.

“What’s on your mind?” Eric asked, sitting up and looking at Reid. He saw the troubled eyes, had no doubt it was probably about his former family, the team that was still looking for him. It has been six weeks since Reid had last saw them. Reid hadn’t asked anything about them, something Eric had thought unusual of. But with Alexandria trying to make him forget who he was, Eric understood why Reid didn’t ask.

“Speak your mind, everything is allowed.” Eric gave a small smile of comfort and saw Reid physically relax.

“I…” Reid frowned and bit his lip. He sighed softly. “I was wondering how my team was doing,” he said softly. “I haven’t heard anything and I’m worried. I’m sure they’re more worried about me, though…”

Eric nodded and got up. “They’re still searching for you,” he said, watching Reid. His eyes lit up, then he frowned.

“They should stop,” Reid mumbled softly, not looking up. It was no use. Although Reid really wanted to return to his family, after what he’d been through, he found it difficult to be around anyone else but Eric. With his mind often empty so he could obey and avoid injury and punishment, he’d started questioning who he was, where he came from. But his team was always clear in his mind, those memories were something Alexandria couldn’t take away from him.

“You want to see them?” Eric asked and watched Reid’s body tense. He hadn’t expected that. Alexandria had definitely booked a lot of progress.

“Yes,” Reid whispered, getting up. He looked up at Eric, desperate. “Please.”

“Okay.” Eric smiled gently and cupped Reid’s cheek, Reid affectionately leaning into the hand. “I’ll be right back,” he said, pecking Reid’s lips before leaving the basement. When he returned, he had a laptop with him.

Reid looked down at himself. He still had nipple piercings, he hated them. Especially Jackson loved to play with them. He bit his lip, wondering if he should just call it off and try to forget about the team.

Eric set up the laptop and patted the bed. Reid climbed onto the bed and settled down beside Eric, crossing his legs so they wouldn’t see his crotch.  
\-----  
By now, whenever the unknown but familiar caller ID popped up on Garcia’s screen, she knew who it was. But she never knew what to expect.

Six weeks had passed without any news, any information, on Reid. The team had busted several houses, with no luck. It seemed that Eric, Reid and the new unknown subject had just disappeared, vanished from the planet. She knew, logically, that he was still somewhere though, the question was where. The team had returned home after two weeks of busting houses and having no luck. The trail had ended, there was nowhere for them to look. The director had told them to start working other cases, so they had.

But Reid was always in the back of their minds. After cases, in their own free time, they would try and piece together the new unsub, try to get more information. But nothing came up, the trail had dried up and Reid was nowhere to be found. They didn’t even know if he was alive still. He could well be dead, dropped off somewhere to be found, or left undiscovered until he was nothing more but bones and dust.

Garcia tried not to think about such scenarios too much, but it was difficult for her not to go there. She sighed and stared at a picture of Reid. “Where are you, sweet genius?”

At that moment, a caller ID popped up and Garcia looked at the screen. The ID was familiar, it was the same Eric had used before. She was scared to answer the call, not knowing what to expect. Would Reid still be Reid? Would he look okay, worse than last time she saw him? Would he have injuries and scars or have none at all?

After a few seconds, she called in the team and then answered the call, twisting her fingers nervously as Eric and Reid popped up on the screen.

As the team trickled in one by one, no one was expecting Reid to look to comfortable, curled up against Eric’s side, Eric running his hand through Reid’s hair. They seemed a couple, not a victim and his abductor.

“Reid?” Hotch said, entering the room and looking at the screen. “Garcia, try to trace this,” he said, although he had no hope that they could find him. As they hadn’t been able to in the past with tracing calls.

“Hotch,” Reid said softly, reaching out to the screen, then pulling his fingers back. He swallowed, a wave of emotions washing over him. He swallowed back the tears and looked down, crossing his arms over his chest, over his pierced nipples.

“Reid,” JJ said, watching him. It was so painful to watch him on the screen. “It’s been six weeks…”

Reid’s eyes widened at that and he looked at Eric, who nodded. “True, it has been a while,” Eric admitted, looking at Reid, who shifted away from Eric, pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around him.

“Well, if you aren’t going to talk, I’ll ju-“ Eric started, but saw Reid tense up.

“No!” Reid said quickly, taking the laptop and laying his legs flat on the bed. He rested the device on his lap and looked at the screen.

“Eric, let him go,” Hotch said, clenching his fists. Reid looked emaciated, terrified, different. He didn’t seem to be himself anymore. 

“No,” Eric said, appearing back in view. He looked at Hotch. “He’s mine now.” He looked at Reid. “You’re worried about him, I know. But I haven’t harmed him.”

“He’s emaciated!” JJ protested, angry. “Let him go! You can’t keep him against his will! We will fin-“

“JJ!” Hotch warned and JJ shut up, looking down. She knew she shouldn’t let her emotions take over, but it was hard to see Reid like this. After so long of being apart, not knowing where he was, if he was even alive. She just wanted him back, hug him and work cases with him. She didn’t want him to spend any more time with this psychopath.

“Guys,” Reid said softly, looking up. He sighed and shook his head. “Stop searching for me. I want to stay here, with my Master.” He noticed the proud smile of Eric from the corner of his eyes. He looked down. “There’s more important things in life. Other cases will need your attention. I’m fine, here.”

“You’re not,” Rossi said, frowning. “Reid, you are important. You’re part of this team and we won’t give up until we’ve found you,” he said. “You just have to hang in there.”

Reid looked at the screen, at Rossi. He swallowed, tears welling up in his eyes. He’d given up hope that his team would find him. He simply shook his head and sighed. “Please, just stop. I’m fine, here. I don’t want to leave.” It hurt to say that, it hurt to see the shock on their faces, the pain and the sadness and the pity. But it would be better if they just gave up, stopped searching for him. They would undoubtly be asked for other cases and they needed to focus on that. Reid didn’t want to go home anymore, not like this, not like how he was now. Broken, disgusting, full of scars.

“Found it!” Garcia suddenly announced. “We found you! Reid we’re coming for you!” she said, happily.

“What?” Eric questioned, eyes wide and panicked. He took the laptop from Reid and checked, then growled. “Goddamnit ,” he said, looking at Reid. “The fuck did you do?” The laptop was discarded aside, but the team could still see Reid. 

“Get ready,” Hotch announced to the rest, Prentiss, Morgan and Rossi leaving the room to prepare the jet. Hotch and JJ stayed around.

“N- nothing,” Reid stuttered, curling in on himself. “Master, please. I promise.” 

“Fine,” Eric said. He sighed and calmed down. “It’s okay, don’t be scared.” He opened his arms and Reid curled up within them. Eric looked at the laptop and disconnected the call.

Hotch and JJ got into action, getting their stuff and going with the rest of the team to the jet. Once on the jet and once in the air, they could do nothing but hope Reid was still there when they would arrive.


	17. Chapter 17

“So they traced the call?” Jackson’s voice rang through the basement. 

Both Eric and Reid hadn’t noticed him. Reid tensed, slowly looking towards Jackson as he came down into the basement. Fear overwhelmed him because this couldn’t mean anything good. Jackson was going to hurt him, Reid curled further into Eric’s side. But Eric let go of Reid and got out of bed.

“It’s fine, we’ll just move,” Eric said but Jackson laughed, shaking his head. Eric frowned, wondering why Jackson was laughing. This was a serious matter, they needed to leave right now before any of the FBI team could get to them.

“Alexandria!” Jackson called and a few seconds later, Alexandria, followed by her slave, followed the steps down into the basement.

“What?” she asked, a little annoyed that she was called down like that. She had been sipping her tea peacefully in the kitchen while her slave had been eating her out. She didn’t like being disturbed.

“The FBI traced us, they know we’re here,” Jackson explained, crossing his arms over his chest. “Eric let the bitch call.”

Alexandria frowned and looked at Eric. “First of all, you know that was against my rules.” She shook her head. “Second of all, I luckily plan things far in advance. But, considering your past mistakes, I won’t take you with me. Step aside,” she ordered.

Eric raised an eyebrow. “What, so I just stay here? You’re not taking him away from me,” Eric growled, grabbing hold of Reid’s wrist and moving him behind himself. He reached with his free hand for the pocket knife he had in his pocket. Reid watched Eric and swallowed, shaking in fear. He clung onto Eric’s tshirt.

“Grab him,” Alexandria ordered and the slave slowly approached, Jackson too. They circled Eric and Reid, before the slave lashed in and attacked.

Eric lashed out, managing to give the slave a nasty cut over his eye. The slave cried out and stepped away, holding his hand over his eye. He turned to Alexandria who glared at him, and he gulped and turned back to Eric, still holding his hand over his bleeding eye. Blood dropped down his face, onto his naked chest. He turned to Jackson and approached.

A quick fight ensued between the two and before Reid knew it, Jackson was on the floor, dead. Bleeding from cuts in his neck, chest, wrists. He stared in horror at Jackson’s body, eyes wide open. Then he was dragged away, up the stairs. He struggled as hard as he could, but he didn’t really stand a chance against the slave and Mistress Alexandria.

“Master!”

The door was shut and locked. Reid stared at it desperately, terrified to be alone with this woman. She resembled JJ so much physically. He turned to the woman and watched her, heart racing. 

“You’re mine now,” Mistress Alexandria growled, checking up on her slave. She frowned, then sighed, grabbing the slave’s head. “Sorry, you’ve served well, but you’re damaged now.” 

The slave stared terrified at Reid, begging him with his eyes but there was nothing Reid could do. With that, Mistress Alexandria snapped the slave’s neck.

The slave dropped and Reid stared at the body, tears welling up in his eyes. He stared up in fear at Mistress Alexandria, terrified of what she was going to do to him.

She grabbed him by his collar and opened the front door, only to be met by police officers. They had surrounded the place entirely.

“Shit,” she cursed, closing the door and locking it. She looked down at Reid. “This is all your fault,” she yelled at him. Reid flinched as she grabbed him by his hair and dragged him back down into the basement. She unlocked the door and threw it open, making Eric fall down the stairs. She dragged Reid down and pushed him aside, grabbed Eric’s knife before he could get it and tossed it up the stairs.

“You’re going to pay,” she said, overpowering Eric first. She kicked him a few times, before grabbing robe that was ready to go and tying his hands together. She looked at Reid. “Lower two hooks from the ceiling,” she ordered.

Reid swallowed, not wanting to obey, but doing so anyway. He lowered two hooks and then stood aside, watching her string up Eric like a piece of meat.

“Fuck you,” Eric growled, spitting in her face. She wiped it off her face, than slapped him harshly. 

Reid was next, hands tied together and then strung up to the hook. He could barely stand on his toes, but he made an effort anyway. He watched her nervously as she took out whips, paddles, canes. His heart raced, remembering last time he came into contact with a whip. He’d barely survived, he could still occasionally feel the phantom pain from his now healed back. He knew he would carry those scars for the rest of his life. He watched her take out a machine and swallowed.

The machine was wheeled behind him and then put into place. Reid was lowered a little so he could properly stand. He tried to look behind him but couldn’t see exactly what was happening. He froze the moment he felt something rubbery and wet touch his ass.

“Leave him alone!” Eric protested. “Bitch!” 

Mistress Alexandria chuckled at Eric and pouted. “Poor you,” she said before turning the machine on.

Reid felt pressure mounting until whatever was mounted onto the machine forcefully moved its way into Reid’s ass. Reid teared up and bit down on his lip, it felt huge and painful, fist sized or even bigger. It slowly moved all the way in, then stayed there for a second, before pulling almost out and moving back in. 

Mistress Alexandria quickened the pace until it was nothing more but brutal and Reid was crying, trying to beg her to stop it. Reid could feel warm liquid drip down his thighs, guessing it was blood.

In his crying, he didn’t hear Eric cry out, not until the second time. Reid gasped in air and looked towards Eric, watching the bullwhip crack down onto Eric’s back.

Mistress Alexandria switched and this time Reid cried out as the whip landed on his back. He tried to shuffle away but with the dildo moving in and out of him, hands tied, body weak, he found himself unable to. He cried out again as the second lash hit him. She alternated between Eric and him, causing both of them as much pain as she could.

After ten lashes each, another machine was pulled out and she attached the whip to it, then started it up. The machine lashed the whip at them, mostly hitting Reid, but hitting Eric occasionally too.

“Goodbye bitches,” she said. Reid watched her from the corner of his eye as she moved away the bed and opened a latch. He watched her disappear and then looked towards Eric, who seemed to have trouble breathing.

“Eric,” Reid gasped, trying to withstand the pain.

Eric looked at Reid and shook his head. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. He cried out as the whip hit him, Reid watched as his back bled. Reid couldn’t imagine how his own back looked, probably nothing better. Eric closed his eyes and seemed to pass out. Reid bit his lip and let his tears fall, let his mind slip into unconsciousness.  
\-----  
Garcia had warned the closest authorities to surround the place and let no one get out and get away. The rest of the team readied themselves in the plane, getting their vests on, guns checked, plan talked through.

“One more time then,” Hotch said as he put his gun away. “Rossi and I will enter first. Authorities have seen a woman and a man, who sounded like he was Reid, but it was a quick glance before she closed the door and locked. We know of at least four people that should be there.”

“After you two checked the first room, JJ and I will enter,” Prentiss said. “Together we will check the first level of the house before moving upstairs. If we haven’t found them then, we assume there’s a basement and every one of us will try to find it, kick it in. But be careful, we don’t know how many people are there, how Reid is, etc. Our goal is to rescue Reid.”

Hotch nodded as the plane started its descend. They buckled in and waited patiently, each team member itching to get Reid out of harm’s way and back into safety. It was no doubt going to be difficult, though. They had no idea how Reid was doing. Last time they found him, he was almost died, almost died along the way to the hospital. Luckily, a hospital was closer this time and ambulance personal were on standby at the site.

The plane landed and the team got out and into SUV’s. Hotch twisted his thumbs, nervous. When Hotch had let Reid go with Eric to Austria, they’d found him in such terrible conditions. The second time they’d let him alone so Eric could cure him, he’d been abducted. He wasn’t sure what to expect, was Reid even alive?

JJ gently tapped Hotch’s shoulder and gave him a small smile. They were all scared of course, but they had to keep hope. Reid had hung in so far, it wouldn’t be long until they had him safe again.

The SUV’s arrived and the team piled out. They briefly discussed their plan with the local law enforcement before Rossi and Hotch walked up to the door, knocked and waited for a few minutes. No sound, so Hotch stepped back, pulled his gun and kicked the door in.

Rossi and Hotch entered the house, JJ and Prentiss close behind. “Found someone!” Rossi called and after clearing the house, they gathered around the body. “He’s been dead for several hours,” Prentiss noted.

“Broken neck,” Hotch said. “Let’s get an ID on him later.” 

They sought for a door and finally found one they hadn’t checked. Morgan kicked it in and pointed his gun, slowly taking the first steps down into the basement. “Oh my god,” he whispered, rushing down the stairs. The rest followed, seeing the state Reid and Eric were in.

“Damnit,” Hotch cursed loudly, rushing to remove the machines as Rossi and Reid cut down Reid first, and eventually got Eric down as well.

“Reid,” JJ tried, holding his head in her hands. “Wake up, come on,” she said, desperate to get him to wake up and show that he was alive. His heart was beating, but faint. 

Reid blinked open his eyes slowly, sight blurry, he tensed as he saw JJ, thinking it was Mistress Alexandria. He struggled, backing away. “Please don’t hurt me, please Mistress I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m so-“

“Reid, it’s us,” Rossi said softly. “It’s JJ, and Hotch, me.” He reached out and Reid flinched, Rossi swallowed.

Reid shook his head. “No, please don’t hurt me I’m sorry,” he whispered before passing out again.

“We need to get him to a hospital,” Hotch said. “If his back was bad then, it’s worse now.” He gently picked Reid up and was quietly glad that Reid was passed out, it was better for him. He carried him out of the basement and to one of the two ambulances. Rossi and Morgan carried an unconscious Eric, getting him into another.

The two patients were rushed to the hospital. Reid was priority, but seeing the state Eric had been in as well he was immediately given care as well.

The rest of the team searched the basement until they found the latch leading to an escape way. Morgan checked it out and came out a bit further, past police lines, where three cars stood, and a fourth had been standing there. He had returned and explained, and then they’d all gone to the hospital.

Once arrived, there had been no further updates so the team were sent to a private waiting room. And there, they waited anxiously.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rip Reid and rip Eric. >:

Hours passed, and the more hours passed the more anxious the team became. They’d been seated in the waiting room for five hours now. They’d each slept bits here and there, but it was hard to really sleep, considering they were really worried for Reid. They hadn’t seen him in such bad conditions before. Not even when they’d found him that first time, when Eric’s brother had whipped Reid’s back to pieces.

JJ was the only one who hadn’t slept. She mostly stared out the window that was in the room, taking in the view of the city. As the sun set and the city lights turned on, she sighed and looked down. She wondered why Reid has freaked out so much when he had woken up. The name “Mistress” kept ringing through her mind, and the fear in which Reid had spoken that word. Whoever that woman was, must have hurt him real bad, terrified him that much.

She had pledged to herself to find that woman and lock her up for the rest of her life. JJ clenched her fists and looked back out the window, just wanting, needing, Reid to be okay. She couldn’t imagine her life without him, without his personality, his hair, clothing, as a team member. It hurt to think about it, even though the possibility of it was all very real. Reid may never be who he was, may never be fit again to work with her and the rest of the team. But he had to survive, that was all she asked. For him to survive and at least live. That they had been in time in finding him. She couldn’t lose the genius, he was her brother.

Hotch kept a watch on all members. Of course they were all in distress, he was too. But there was little they could do but wait. Reid would pull through, he was sure of it. The kid was stronger than he looked, always had been. Not physically, but mentally. He was smart and resourceful and he would get through whatever life threw at him, including this. He’d wanted to talk to his team members, but found it would probably be useless. They were all trying to get through, just hoping their genius would be okay.

Even Rossi didn’t come up to talk to them. All of the team members would need a psych eval to make sure they could go on being FBI profilers, to work as the team. The six weeks not knowing where Reid was or how he was doing had turned them on each other, and they all regretted the harsh words thrown at each other. But it was no use to apologise for it, they’d said them in difficult times and under great stress. Hotch knew no word was meant.

He wondered, though, how traumatised the genius would be. What he’d been through was difficult enough, no one came out of that without traumas. But Reid’s eidetic memory would make it so much harder to move on. He’d never forget, the memories would never fade to a dull feeling. They would always be there, clear as day. There was no escaping it for him.

The fact that Reid had asked the team to stop searching bothered him. Hotch wondered if it was said under force, but it seemed so genuine. The six weeks of silence had been unbearable, mental torture for the team. So when they finally saw him, emaciated, bruised, looking so broken, Hotch had wanted to yell. But he’d kept himself in check. Luckily Garcia had found him, but at what cost? Reid’s back was torn back open and would take another few weeks to heal. The state they’d found him in, that machine…

Hotch shivered. The memory would never leave him, forever burned in his mind. Probably in everyone’s minds.

Hours passed in silence, no one talked to each other really. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, but a desperate silence, a ‘Reid-needs-to-be-okay’ silence that had settled over them. No one could comfort each other because everyone was uncertain that Reid would pull through.

Eric had been okay, he would recover. Currently handcuffed to the bed and police officers surrounding the room to make sure he wouldn’t escape again. Because this time, if he escaped, they’d shoot him without second thought. Eric may have gotten hurt because of his actions but the team didn’t really care, it was his own fault anyway.

It was around 1 am that a doctor knocked on the door to the waiting room, opened it and stepped in. He looked exhausted, understandably so.

“All here for Dr. Spencer Reid?” he asked.

The team turned to him and they all nodded, anxious to hear the news.

“Okay.” The man sat down and sighed. “Physically, he’ll recover fully. It may take some time, he’ll need plenty of rest.”

They sighed in relief. JJ smiled faintly, glad he would recover physically. But mentally was a whole new challenge. Considering what Reid had gone through, the weeks he spent captive, that he had asked them to stop searching for them. She knew he wasn’t well mentally, not stable. He would need a lot of guidance and it was the question if he’d ever be his old self again. She doubted it, no matter how much that hurt.

“Mentally…” The doctor shook his head and got up. “He’s awake right now, in case you want to see them.”

All jumped up and followed the doctor. Reid was in a room next to Eric, who was asleep. Reid was seated up, staring down at his lap. The nipple piercings clearly visible through his gown, as were many bruises.

The door opened, Reid didn’t look up as his team members stepped into the room. JJ slowly stepped closer, feeling almost nervous.

“Reid?” she asked softly. She wanted to reach out to him, but was afraid. He seemed tense as it was, reaching out to him would probably only make it worse.

Reid slowly looked up and swallowed, looking at JJ. She reminded him so much of Mistress Alexandria, almost as if they were twins. He looked back down. “Hey,” he said softly. He couldn’t look at her, not right now anyway, not knowing what Mistress Alexandria had done to him, and Eric.

“I’m so glad we found you,” JJ mumbled, taking a seat beside the bed. She slowly reached out for his hand, took it. She felt him tense but he didn’t pull away.

“Where’s Eric?” Reid questioned, slowly looking up at the rest of the team. He bit his lip nervously, wondering if Eric was dead. It made him choke up thinking about it.

“He’s alive and recovering,” Hotch said factually. He crossed his arms over his chest. He didn’t like Reid asking about Eric. Hotch could care less about that man, what was important was that Reid was safe and would recover. “We found you just in time and made you priority. But Eric will recover just fine to spend the rest of his life in jail.”

Reid frowned at Hotch, pulling his hand away from JJ. “It’s your fault that we were in such a state,” he said, looking down. “I told you to stop searching. Now two people are dead, Mistress Alexandria has fled and Eric… My Master is injured.” Reid shook his head, trying not to be too angry at them. But he’d made it clear they should have stopped. When Garcia had announced that she had found him, he knew that wasn’t going to end well for him. His injuries were the team’s fault.

“Reid,” Rossi said softly. “We’d never stop searching for you, even if you wanted us to. We wouldn’t stop until we had you back. We’re sorry for what happened, but you’re safe now. Eric is not your master, nor will he ever be.” He wasn’t sure what to say. Reid was closer to Eric than they had hoped, wanted him to be. It was going to be difficult the next few weeks to have Reid distance himself from the man that had kidnapped and hurt him. The fact that he was blaming the team for his injuries hurt all of them.

Reid looked up. “Leave,” he said. “All of you. I don’t want you here, I want to rest.” He watched the pained expressions of the team, especially of JJ, but they left anyway. Reid sighed and curled up on his side, closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift.

He was safe now, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to be. He wanted to curl up in Eric’s lap and remain there, fall asleep there and never wake up again. He knew he shouldn’t have blamed the team, kicked them out. But he had to deal with himself first, and that was difficult. The team would lock Eric away for the rest of his life and Reid didn’t want that. But he wouldn’t have a choice in letting it happen. He clenched his fists and tears filled his eyes. Why couldn’t have the darkness just taken him forever? Reid let a sob escape him, cried himself to sleep.  
\-----  
Eric slowly woke up, not really wanting to, but his body forcing him to anyway. He yawned and opened his eyes before slowly sitting up. He saw that two of Reid’s FBI team members were in his room and he swallowed, wondering if Reid was okay, or was going to be okay anyway. Reid had already looked weak when Eric had passed out, he wasn’t sure how long they’d been hanging in the basement. Eric probably was lucky to receive less beatings than Reid had gotten. He really worried.

“H- How’s Reid?” he asked, nervous. He wasn’t sure if they would answer him, considering that he’d kidnapped Reid and hurt him. Eric knew that what he’d done was wrong, he just hadn’t been able to stop himself. But as the past weeks had gone by, he’d considered letting Reid go. But it was too late for that now, didn’t matter now.

Hotch frowned, taking a seat in a chair. “He’ll be… okay. Probably. He kicked us out of the room,” he explained, not looking terribly happy. Hotch wasn’t sure why. Reid hadn’t looked thrilled to see the team, had looked uncomfortable and upset even. Hotch wasn’t sure how to deal with that, since the rest of the team were relieved to finally have him safe.

Eric snickered, then shut up. “Sorry,” he mumbled, nervous around these two men. He knew that Hotch was the head of the team, Rossi was retired but returned anyways. Eric looked up again, wondering what they wanted.

“Who is Mistress Alexandria?” Rossi asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He eyed Eric carefully, who seemed nervous. Good, Rossi wasn’t happy the man was alive, would have rather seen him dead.

“She’s a friend of mine,” Eric explained. “Or at least, she was. Not anymore, not after what she did to Reid.” He sighed softly and twisted his thumbs. “Well, she was Jackson’s friend actually. But we got to know each other during the six weeks we stayed with her. She’s very knowledgeable, but quite grumpy. She looks quite a bit like JJ, actually.”

“So that’s why Reid reacted so badly when he woke up in the basement,” Hotch mumbled to himself. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Where would she go?” Rossi asked, looking towards Eric.

Eric shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know her that well. Wherever she goes, it’ll be safe and she’ll be hard to track down.”

“Dammit,” Hotch growled and sighed. He leaned back in his chair and looked at Eric. “Well, we have you. At least we can put you away for the rest of your life and make it as miserable as possible.” 

Eric gulped and looked at Hotch. “Reid won’t let you,” he said defensively.

“It doesn’t matter if Reid doesn’t want it. We have all the evidence. You’re never going to get out of prison.” Rossi shrugged carelessly. “Reid will deal with it and move on. He’s realise that whatever is going on between you two was you manipulating him. You no longer have control over him.”

Eric swallowed, not sure what to say. He looked around him, but figured he couldn’t escape. They wouldn’t let him. He watched the two leave his room and sighed, laying back down and contemplating what he would do. He wasn’t going to get treated any better if he would work along. He needed a lawyer, a good one.


	19. Chapter 19

Reid didn’t sleep well throughout the night. He was itching to get out of bed and find Eric, but he was pretty sure his team would only become angry at him. Not that he really cared, but he was afraid of the consequences for Eric if Reid did such a thing. He didn’t want Eric to get hurt more than he had been already. He also realised he probably would have to get used to being separated from Eric, considering the team’s plan to lock him away for the rest of his life. Reid sighed, curled up on the crappy hospital bed.

It was morning now. The team had gone and checked up on him an hour earlier, but he’d quickly kicked them out again. Frankly, Reid didn’t want to be around them at the moment, no matter how much that hurt the team.

He’d have to make some important decisions soon as well. Did he want to go back to being an FBI profiler and work with the team? Or did he want to quit, do something else with his life? Reid wasn’t sure. He’d been a profiler for so long now, his team were his family, even if he didn’t want to be around them at the moment.

He looked at the machines attached to him and frowned. He still needed to undergo another humiliating rape kit, the team would force him to. Reid sighed and looked down, feeling miserable. He didn’t want to deal with anything, face the truth. Eric had been his abuser and Reid shouldn’t want to be with him, but he couldn’t help himself. Eric had been kind most of the time, and cared for him. He was the light in the darkness, whenever Jackson or Mistress Alexandria were hurting him, Eric was always encouraging him to be obedient, do the right thing.

Reid let the rape kit be done, this time without any of the team members at his side. They would just have to read his statements later on, when the report was put together and sent to them. They tried to get him to eat, but his stomach made it clear that he wasn’t going to hold it down. So he refused all their efforts and laid pathetically in bed, not moving or talking to them. They tried, they did. But Reid simply refused, shrugged them off and closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. They saw past that though, but it didn’t matter. At least he was being left alone.

The only reason he did talk was to ask about updates from Eric. Was he doing okay? Was he recovering?

The team seemed agitated every time Reid mentioned his name, asked about him. But Reid continued to ask. Hotch mostly answered, short answers, not real updates. It irritated Reid because Hotch couldn’t possibly understand how Reid felt being separated from Eric, couldn’t possibly understand what Reid was going through. Hotch had never gone through such a thing, yet he felt like Hotch was judging him for going through whatever he went through.

Reid sighed as he got another short answer. The nurse had removed all the machine’s hook-ups to his body so he carefully moved his legs out of bed. He looked at Hotch, determination in his eyes. “Where is my Master?” he asked.

“It doesn’t matter, lay back down,” Hotch answered, crossing his arms over his chest. “You won’t get in. There’s security guards in front of his room and we’ve given specific orders that you are not allowed to see him.”

“He’s not your master,” Rossi said, watching the genius with sad eyes. Seeing Reid like that was hard, he seemed so much different, so much changed.

“He is whatever I call him,” Reid said, slowly getting up. He steadied himself on the bed, JJ jumping up but he shook his head at her. He didn’t want her help, didn’t want any of their help.

“Reid,” Morgan said, trying to get some sense into Reid’s head. “He is your abuser, we can’t just let you go to him.” He sighed and watched Reid take a few steps.

Reid grimaced, his back protesting with pain. He clenched his fists and looked up at Morgan. “You let your abuser walk free for years! Did nothing about it, let other kids be abused.” He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, trying to breathe through the pain. “I want to see my Master. It’s unfair if I can’t.”

“No,” Hotch said. “Leave the room,” he told the team and they quietly left. Hotch closed the door and leaned against it. “What are you going to do, Reid? You’re safe. You need to distance yourself from that man. He abused you, he’s going to go to jail for the rest of his life, there’s no doubt about that. He killed several people, kidnapped an FBI team, assaulted, raped, almost murdered an FBI agent. HQ isn’t going to let him go before he’s locked away.”

Reid looked up at Hotch with a pained expression. “I can’t, you wouldn’t understand.” He swallowed, taking another step towards the door. “I need him, I need his touch and I need his comfort! I don’t want you to lock him away.” Reid had tears in his eyes, and even though he didn’t want to cry in front of Hotch, it was hard not to.

“Reid,” Hotch said, voice softer now. He sighed softly. “We can’t. Protocol is in place, there is nothing that you, or any of us, can do. Once Eric has recovered enough, he’ll be transferred to jail and there he’ll get a lawyer. Evidence has been sorted, HQ has assigned you a lawyer to deal with the case.”

Reid looked at Hotch and frowned, then slowly forced himself to his knees, put his hands behind his back and looked down. “I’m not going to let him,” he whispered and closed his eyes. “I want to talk to him, or I’ll stay like this until I can.” And with that, he shut his mouth.

“Reid, come on,” Hotch said, walking closer. Reid tensed, Hotch saw how much, how scared he was. He sighed, tried to get Reid to get up, but the youngest wouldn’t budge, stayed on his knees. Hotch noticed some of the wounds on his back had opened up and were bleeding, they would need medical care, no doubt. But if Reid wouldn’t allow it, there was only so little he could do. Hotch didn’t want to betray Reid’s trust by cuffing him to the bed, but it seemed Reid wasn’t giving him a choice.

Hotch turned around and opened the door, left the room, closed it and shook his head. This was going to be so much more difficult than he expected.

“Hotch,” Rossi said, signalling to the door.

Hotch shook his head. “He went on his knees and stayed there, says he won’t come out of that position unless he gets to talk to Eric.”

Rossi sighed and shook his head, wondering how they were going to help the kid. “Maybe we should. Maybe we can convince Eric that Reid was nothing more but a commodity, that Eric doesn’t care. Surely Reid will listen to him and then realise that he means nothing to Eric and let the legal process happen. It’s not like he can stop it. His lawyer will do anything that he can to get Eric locked away.”

“I don’t know,” Hotch said, then looked towards Eric’s room. But it’s worth a try, I guess.”  
\-----  
Eric spent most of his time sleeping. And whenever he was awake, he looked around the room and thought about how he was going to handle this. A lot of the time he wondered about Reid, if the younger one was recovering well. He hoped so, he really did. What Mistress Alexandria did to Reid at the end, Eric couldn’t forgive.

He looked up at the door as it opened and Rossi and Hotch barged through. He frowned, becoming nervous. Whenever the two of them were in his room, throwing question after question or remarks, it made him anxious. He was pretty sure they’d rather see him dead than alive and that they couldn’t care less about his answers. Hotch was especially intimidating, the way he looked so hateful towards Eric made him cringe and want to hide away from the man that was going to make his life miserable.

“We need you to do something,” Hotch said, closing the hospital door and locking it. Eric had been lucky to have been receiving such care. But that time would be up if Eric wasn’t going to cooperate.

“And you better cooperate,” Rossi threatened and motioned to the machines. “Or technical malfunction may or may not cause your death.”

Eric gulped, watching the two. They were dead serious, of course. For Eric, it was cooperate or die, and he wasn’t sure which option was better for him. “What do you want?” he asked softly.

“We need you to tell Reid that you mean nothing to him,” Hotch explained, leaning against the locked door and crossing his arms across his chest. “Reid needs to realise that he can’t continue on with you. He needs to move on and move away from whatever is going on between the two of you. And you will tell him in whatever rude words you want to use how much Reid doesn’t matter to you.”

Eric gulped and looked at Rossi, who stood right next to the machines. He fisted the blankets and looked at Hotch. “I can’t,” he whispered and flinched as Rossi moved to fumble with the machines. “Please don’t! I just…” 

Rossi stopped and frowned, looking sceptically at Eric. “You want to say you love him? Wrong. You’re unable of loving him, not after all that you’ve put him through. Reid doesn’t need you and you will be locked away for the rest of your pathetic long life.”

Eric swallowed and looked down. “I can’t hurt his feelings like that,” Eric said softly. “And I can’t hurt mine. You’re wrong about me. I love him, I did everything I could to get him and love him. It may not be your type of love, but I love him regardless!”

Hotch moved away from the door and closer to Eric. “You will cooperate,” he said coldly. “I don’t care about your feelings. They are irrelevant. Reid won’t recover unless you convince him that you are nothing to him. We can’t have him continue to look to you, to visit you once you’re in prison. You don’t love him. You are not his family. You don’t care for him. He’s our family, we want him back. So you better do as we say or there will be consequences. I will make you suffer for the rest of your life.”

The threat hung thick in the air and Eric remained quiet, eyeing the two anxiously. He wasn’t sure if he could lie convincingly to Reid like that. But he didn’t want to die, didn’t want to suffer whatever Hotch wanted to put him through. He swallowed hard and then nodded. 

“I… I don’t have a choice, I guess.” It hurt. Eric forced the tears back, but he had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea.

“No, you don’t,” Rossi said, stepping away from the machines. “It’s cooperate or die, or we’ll make your life even worse than it’s going to be. We don’t care about you. I would have rather seen you dead and for a moment I considered letting you die in that basement. But instead we decided to lock you up. Be grateful for the care you have had so far, we’re normally not that kind to unsubs who hurt our team as much as you did.” 

Hotch and Rossi took one quick look at Eric, before Hotch unlocked the door and they left. Eric was left alone to curl up on the bed and think about how he was going to say such hurtful things to Reid. He really didn’t want to. Didn’t want to hurt the kid’s feelings, but he was given no choice. Eric sighed and closed his eyes, mulling it over in his head and trying to convince himself this would be the best, for him and for Reid.


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> School starts next week so I can't promise quick updates. But I will try my best to update as frequently as school allows me.
> 
> Enjoy a heartbreaking(?) chapter.

Reid stayed on his knees long. Hours long. It was incredible how long the genius could stay in such a position and it was in no doubt that it must have been trained into him. With the pain Reid must be in this couldn’t be easy. The team carefully watched over him, occasionally tried to get him to get up. But Reid never budged, insisted he needed to talk to his captor and that that was the only reason he’d get up. Especially Hotch found it annoying. But it didn’t matter much, they would let him talk to Eric. And Eric would show Reid the truth, that the man didn’t care for the younger, that he had been nothing but a toy to the man. Even if it was all lies, Hotch didn’t care. He’d move mountains to make Reid realise that Eric was never going to treat him good or love him.

So, after several hours, Hotch sighed and opened the door, walking into Reid’s room. The younger didn’t look up, kept his position as he’d been doing for the past several hours. 

“Okay, you can go talk to him,” Hotch said, crossing his arms over his chest. He was sceptical, but he’d warned Eric plenty of the consequences if the man tried anything funny. Hotch wasn’t in the mood to have Reid curl up against Eric’s side.

Reid attentively looked up, narrowing his eyes at his former boss. He relaxed his posture a bit and sat back on his feet. 

“Why, all of a sudden?” he asked, not really believing Hotch. “Is he dying?” Fear flashed across Reid’s eyes. He bit his lip, anxious all of a sudden. 

Hotch laughed and shook his head. “No, sadly not,” he said. “I discussed it with the team, and we decided to let you talk to Eric. Maybe it will do you some good,” he explained.

Reid slowly got up, grimacing as the hospital gown he was wearing got ripped from his back and opened up new wounds. Hotch called in a nurse and she swiftly tended to Reid’s wounds, even when he tensed up and almost seemed to shut down. He then followed Hotch out of his own hospital room and to Eric’s room, which was besides his own.

Reid shuffled nervously on his feet, not certain what to expect. Hotch made him nervous most of all, with his sudden change of behaviour. He was afraid that Hotch had told Eric something, but he wasn’t sure.

The door to Eric’s room opened and Eric sat up straight, looking towards the door as it opened. His cold gaze made shivers run down Reid’s spine, who hugged his own arms around him as he carefully ventured into the hospital room.

“Master,” Reid said softly, coming closer. He longed for Eric’s touch, to curl up against his side and close his eyes, forget everything. He wanted so desperately to just drift away from his current position and be at peace for a moment, not struggling to make difficult decisions. But Eric scared him, as the older man turned to Reid.  
\-----  
Eric had thought long and hard how to bring this news, fake news nonetheless, harsh news, to the younger before him. And it took him a great deal of effort to look as cold and careless as he could, trying to frighten Reid. And it worked, he seemed cautious and afraid, uncertain of how to approach, what to do or what to say. Eric felt the same way, but he knew he would have to. With Hotch and Rossi in the room, he had no choice but to do as he had been told.

He cleared his throat and looked down at Reid, trying to seem as not impressed as possible.

“Hello toy,” he said and watched Reid tense up at that. He forced a cold smile, sitting straight and proud.

“I wanted to say one last thing to you before we’d be separated from each other.” Eric gazed nervously to Hotch, who raised a suspicious brow. Eric gulped and looked back down at Reid, who seemed to be frozen in fear. He sighed and shook his head. 

“The past six weeks have been fun, but you’re the reason that I’m going to be locked up for the rest of my life,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and huffing coldly. “So thanks for that, little bitch. I’ll never forget this. I hate you. It’s all because of you that my life is now ruined, that I’ll spend my life in jail, miserable, and alone.” 

He gauged Reid’s reaction, who seemed to have a difficult time keeping certain tears at bay. Eric wanted to wrap him in his arms and apologise, say he didn’t mean a word. But he couldn’t, and perhaps this was better this way. Eric knew that what he had done was unforgivable and that he should be punished for it. It didn’t make this any less hard though, even if it was better for Reid’s well-being.

“This is not you,” Reid said, sniffling. He wiped his eyes, trying to look confident. “Did Hotch threaten you?” Reid turned to Hotch and narrowed his eyes. “Did you, to prove your point?! Is that why I’m allowed to talk to him, so you can watch him break my heart into a tiny million pieces?”

“Slave!” Eric growled and Reid flinched, turning back to Eric and cowering. “No one threatened me to do anything. I wanted to tell you the truth, and here it is. You are worthless to me, you mean absolutely nothing to me. All you are is a toy for me to play with, to fuck and hurt and beat until you’re covered with those pretty dark bruises. To choke you until you’re feeling like you’re gonna pass out, and then let you breathe, only to repeat the process all over again.”

Reid was in tears by now, letting them freely roll down his cheeks. His eyes were wide as he stared at Eric, unbelieving yet not being able to go against it. Had it really been like that? Had Reid imagined all those soft and kind touches, the sweet words whispered in his ears? The concern that Eric had always seemed to carry around him whenever Reid had gone through another session of torture from Mistress Alexandria or Jackson.

“I want to never see you again,” Eric said with a disappointed smile. “You’ve only caused me trouble and pain, and you’ll continue to cause me that throughout the rest of my life as I waste away in a prison cell.” Eric huffed. “I hate you, you worthless, pathetic slave. You’re a whore, disgusting little whore. I should have killed you when I got the chance, let the poison run through your veins and watch you die a slow and painful death. It’s a shame I never did.”

Reid gasped for air through his laboured breathing, now on his knees. The words rung clearly through his mind, repeated itself over and over again until Reid wanted to scream or die, rip his brain out of his skull and toss it against the nearest wall he could find. He slowly got up, stared at Eric desperately, but Eric only shook his head. Reid looked towards Hotch, who seemed nothing more but satisfied with this. Then, Reid ran from the room. JJ tried to go after him, but Rossi had stopped her and shook his head. 

“He needs his time,” he explained, looking towards Eric who was now in tears himself. Hotch emerged from Eric’s room and the door closed. “Let’s get some food while Reid tries to process that talk.”  
\-----   
Reid found himself a dark and quiet corner in a hospital storage room. There, he’d sat down, pulled his knees up and wrapped his arms around his legs before he’d cried until he could cry no more. Once all of his tears had dried up, he had simply stared ahead of him, eyes blank, no emotion. The words still ringing through his mind, convincing him of how cold Eric really was, how Eric had never cared about him at all.

So his mind had played the trick successfully and now his heart felt like it was too big to contain all the anger and hate towards he Eric. A small part of him had a hard time believing those words, but Eric had been pretty convincing. He slowly pieced together his heart and emerged from the room. He returned to his own, checked that there was no one around, before looking towards Eric’s room. The guards were asleep and Reid wondered if he should get in and really talk to Eric, without the pressure of Hotch in the room.

Reid swallowed and slowly made his way to the door. He opened it and quickly went inside, closing the door quietly before turning to Eric, who obviously had cried as well.

“You were lying,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because of Hotch. Did he threaten you?”

Eric swallowed and looked at Reid. “Reid… Go away. Your boss is right. You shouldn’t be involved with me. You should move on, prosecute me.”

Reid swallowed and came closer. He bit his bottom lip nervously, reaching for Eric’s hand and taking it in his own. “No,” he said. “I can’t. Not after all that I’ve been through, not after all those days we spend together, curled up. I didn’t need to worry about a thing and you would comfort me, especially after Jackson had played with me.”

“Reid…” Eric pulled his hand back and sighed, looking torn. He wanted to curl up with Reid and forget about everything, but he couldn’t.

“What I did was against the law. Reid I raped you, hurt you. I shouldn’t have, but I did. And there’s nothing that you can do to change that fact. Your boss, Hotch, is right. You can’t stay attached to me. What we had was not a healthy relationship. I was your abductor and you were my victim. And that will always be the case. We won’t ever be able to have a healthy relationship.” Eric sighed and folding his hands in his lap, wondering if he was doing the right thing. The pain in Reid’s eyes made him doubt every word he was saying.

“But…” Reid shook his head, tears filling his eyes. He blinked and some of them escaped, rolling down his face and leaving a wet trail. “I don’t want to distance myself from you,” he whispered, sinking to his knees. “I don’t care that our relationship was unhealthy, we can start over again. You can be better, do better.”

“Reid, stop,” Eric said and shook his head. “We can’t, we won’t. I don’t want to. Please leave the room,” Eric said. And it hurt to say it, but he had to. It was better this way. He knew he would never get out of prison, he would die there, end of story. He would spend the rest of his time looking over his shoulder, alone in a system he’d never wanted to get into. But he was fine with it, because he knew he had to be punished for what he had done. It had been wrong, he’d hurt people, killed people. And that was not okay.

“You’re nothing to me,” Eric said, looking at Reid. “You never will be. Whatever we had is over, it’s done and finished. I don’t want to see you ever again.”

Reid sniffled and looked up at Eric. He got up and nodded his head. “Okay,” he whispered, sounding so broken, hurt. He turned around and walked to the door, opened it and left, not bothering to close the door behind him. He walked to his own room and sighed, staring at the hospital bed before climbing into it. He felt lost and uncertain. He knew Eric cared about him, but it was over now anyway. Reid had no place in Eric’s life apparently, even if he wanted to try so hard.

JJ entered his room a few minutes later, looking at Reid with sad eyes. He looked down and sighed.

“Are you okay?” she asked softly, worried for him. She knew she reminded him of a painful past, but she hoped he wanted to talk to her anyway.

Reid shook his head and patted the bed. JJ joined him and Reid curled up against her, letting out sob after sob. JJ tried her best to comfort him as he cried, until it was silent and Reid was asleep. She stayed like that, not wanting to wake him up. “Everything will be okay,” she said softly.


	21. Chapter 21

Reid slept several hours in the safety of JJ’s embrace. He didn’t move much and didn’t really make a sound, sometimes JJ checked to make sure he was still breathing. Reassured that he was, she let him continue on, knowing he needed it.

Occasionally someone of the team would come in to check on them. They only whispered, not wanting to wake up the youngest member of the team. He needed his rest to recover, and they all wanted him to recover as fast as he could. It was going to be a long and difficult road, but that didn’t matter.

Eventually though he woke up, and for a moment was panicked at seeing JJ, thinking it was Mistress Alexandria. After a quick reassurance, he sighed and curled up. ”I want to be alone,” he said.

JJ looked at him with painful eyes, then nodded and left the hospital room.

Reid stared at the wall where, on the other side, Eric was. He craved the touch of that man, the reassuring kind words, the fingers running through his hair. But Eric had made it clear that he didn’t want Reid around anymore. Reid hadn’t felt that hurt, emotionally, in a long while, and found it hard to deal with his feelings.

The next few days kind of passed by in a blur for Reid. He watched Eric being escorted by police officers to the police station and he had no doubt that the team would interrogate him. Reid didn’t talk to any of them, not even JJ or Garcia. Whenever Hotch was in his room he refused everything, and he saw how it irritated and angered the man, but Reid was angry and probably would be for a while. So Hotch would just have to deal with it, just like Reid had to deal with himself.

He recovered slowly, still refused to eat so they kept giving him liquid foods and IV’s to make sure he at least didn’t lose any weight. His back was regularly checked and treated, but the healing process of his back was even slower then expected. Infections regularly popped up and although Reid was treated for it, it set back his recovery every single time. It was frustrating to the team but also to Reid, who just wanted to go home and do nothing at all. Although he doubted the team would let him go home alone, without anyone to care for him, considering his mental state and refusal of food.

Rossi and Morgan often tried to talk some sense into Reid but he wouldn’t listen, or simply kick them out of the room. He didn’t want their talks, didn’t want to hear how Eric was his captor, abductor, not his lover or a friend. Reid didn’t care about that so he didn’t want to hear. Furthermore he slept a lot, trying to drown out their pitiful whispers about their worries for him. Reid couldn’t care at the moment.

Finally, after a week of no infections, Reid was allowed to go home. Not really excited about the prospect though, he was sluggish to get dressed and ready to leave, also because he didn’t want to rip open his back he was slow and careful with his movements.

Emerging from the room, he looked towards the hospital room beside him, wondering how Eric was doing in custody. He gulped and sighed, let himself be escorted to a van that would bring the team to the private jet. 

The flight wasn’t terribly long and Reid spent his time staring out the window. The atmosphere was loaded heavily with worry, pity and sadness from the team and it drove the youngest crazy. He was glad when he landed and ready to go home.

“Reid,” Hotch said, once out of the plane, gathering their stuff. “I want someone to go home with you and take care of you. It’s become clear we can’t trust you to look after yourself, so it’s important that you have someone at your side to make sure that you’ll eat and take care of yourself.”

“No,” Reid said simply, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m no child, I don’t need a babysitter. I’ll be fine taking care of my own if you’d just let me be. But no, you treat me like a child, after taking away the person I became closest with, forcing him to say all those bad things about me.”

Reid took his bag and glared at Hotch. “I want to be left alone, by everyone.” He walked away, slow and careful, carrying his bag to the nearest taxi station he could find and getting into one. He told his address to the driver and watched as the team looked on sullen and upset. It was their fault, they shouldn’t be treating him like they were doing. 

Once home, Reid was happy to flop down on the couch. He stared around his apartment and realised he hadn’t been here in a while, in months. It would take him some time to get used to it again.

The next few days were clear but silent. JJ and Garcia checked up on him twice a day but Reid simply ignored him. He spent a lot of time just staring out a window, or seated in his bathroom with his knees pulled up to his chest. He felt lost, uncertain about what to do. He was having a hard time settling into a normal life after having been forced to obey commands for a good month and a half. He thought he’d be happy to be freed, but apparently not.

It had now been three weeks since he was freed from his captivity, Reid realised, and for the past three weeks he’d felt nothing less but alone and lost and uncertain, even afraid at times.

He sighed and checked the time. The team was probably at work, so he got himself properly dressed and made sure he looked at least a little decent. He grabbed his keys and stepped outside of his apartment, feeling a little uneasy and nervous. He sighed and locked the door, then made his way to the building that had once been his second home.

Once arrived, he nervously entered. No one would take a stance, they all knew him, and although Reid was still questioning if he should continue to be an FBI team member, he had access to the building. He took the elevator up to where the team would work and slowly walked inside.

“Reid!” Morgan called, getting up and smiling. “There you are, pretty boy. I was already wondering when you’d come over. Must be missing me, obviously.”

Reid nervously fidgeted and didn’t really respond, just shrugged. He looked around, the team gathering in front of him. Reid looked at them. “Where’s Eric?” he asked carefully, twisting his thumbs nervously.

“He’s in the interrogation room,” Rossi explained, wanting to shake his head. Reid still seemed so attached, so willing to seek out, his captor. Rossi wondered if Reid would ever get back to being himself just a little bit.

Reid nodded and sat down. “Okay,” he said, looking down, nervous, submissive. 

“Reid,” JJ said softly, kneeling down in front of him. She tried to get him to look at her but he just looked away. “You can’t go see him. Hotch is interrogating him, gathering evidence. You need to distance yourself from him, Reid.”

“I know,” Reid said, looking at JJ. He swallowed and sighed. “I’m trying, I am. But you have no idea what kind of relationship we’ve build. It’s hard to just let go of that. For weeks, he was my sole companion and comfort. The light in the dark, taking care of me and making sure I didn’t get hurt too badly. Now, being separated from him hurts, I want to curl up in his lap and forget everything. I know I can’t do that, I will never do that, but it doesn’t make it any easier.”

JJ nodded and gave him a small comforting smile. “I know, but you’re trying, and that’s what matters. We care about you, Reid. You’re our family. We don’t ever want to lose you again, those six weeks were hell in not knowing where you were, if you were okay.”

“You’ll be okay, kid,” Rossi said, looking at the youngest agent. “We’re all here for you. We want to help you, so let us help you. This team isn’t the same without our genius, and we want you back. We know you need time and you do need to take all the time you want. But let us in, let us help.”

Reid slowly looked up at the people surrounding him. He swallowed, then nodded. “Okay,” he said, nervous about it. But they were right, they were his family and he really didn’t want to lose them or shut them out. Even if that meant losing Eric and getting better. He knew it was better this way. They’d all been hurting for the past months, trying to solve the case, getting kidnapped, not knowing where Reid was, if he was okay. It had been difficult but they had never given up and Reid knew they never would. Because they truly cared for him.

“Lets see if Hotch is done yet,” Rossi said and Reid nodded, getting up and following after the elder. He knew the way of course, he’d never found himself lost in this building. Ever since day one he only had to walk through the building once and he remembered every room and passage and hallway. His memory always took in every detail and he never forgot. Which meant he wouldn’t be able to forget his traumas, ever. But that was okay, he couldn’t avoid them anyway with the scars he carried.

Slowly, Reid looked through the window and saw Eric seated. He seemed defeated and weak, thinner than he had been. Their separation was taking a toll on his abductor and Reid felt his stomach churn, upset that Eric was faring so badly.

Reid knew why Eric had done all the things he did. The members of his team may be convinced that Eric couldn’t love, but it all was not true. Eric held love for one person in his life and that person had been Reid. And although Eric had tried it wrong, Reid couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for him. In the past few weeks, he had lost everything and he’d spend the rest of his life locked away in a tiny cell, surrounded by the most cruel and hostile people in this country. An environment not meant for Eric, regardless of what he had done to Reid.

The younger sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, watching Eric explain everything that had happened from beginning to end, admitting to everything he was charged with, Hotch recording it and making notes to later defend Reid in the case against Eric. Reid shook his head, leaning his back carefully against the wall and listening. Memories flashed through his mind, being frustrated with the case in the beginning, then stealing a car and going off alone to find whoever was murdering men and carving messages into the bodies. 

His first ever blowjob, that he sucked at too. Caring for his team, getting all but one released, then going off to another country, meeting Eric’s brother.

Reid shivered at the memory of Hans, who had been nothing but brutal. Being rescued then, when he was about to die, almost dying on the way to the hospital. Being kidnapped back home, taken away and meeting another person, Jackson. Jackson was worse than Hans and Reid was glad for a part that that man was dead.

Meeting Mistress Alexandria and spending six weeks under her roof before everything went awry and he was rescued again. The entire few months had been nothing but a rollercoaster, but him, for Eric. Reid sighed and watched Hotch get up and leave the room. Reid looked at Eric, who looked exhausted, face red from crying, and there was nothing Reid could do.

“Reid,” Hotch said, looking at the youngest. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Reid looked at Hotch and nodded. “Yeah, I just want him locked away.”

Hotch smiled at that, not realising how much it hurt for Reid to say that. “Then lets make it happen.”


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What do you mean, progress? Shit's gonna hit the fan. :D

Reid sat nervously outside the courtroom, waiting with Hotch. He twisted his thumbs and stared down at the floor, all certainty of the past few weeks gone. He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to testify against Eric anymore, though he knew Hotch would force him to. He didn’t have a choice, and it hurt. The past few weeks had been difficult as they had prepared the case. He’d watched Eric many times, just sitting in the room, looking lost and scared. Reid had badly wanted to comfort him, but he couldn’t. It was difficult for him, still recovering from what he’d gone through, suffering bad nightmares every night.

They were called and Hotch stood up. Reid sighed and got up as well, fixing his clothes and following after Hotch. Eric was already seated with his lawyer, an old, grumpy man who didn’t really like his job. Reid had met him plenty of times and the lawyer had seemed nothing more but disgusted of Reid after having heard the statements and read the evidence. It made Reid highly uncomfortable to be around the man, and seeing him seated there to represent his abductor was somehow terrifying to him. Reid sat down and looked behind him, seeing the team seated amongst the audience. Of course they’d be there to support him, none of them having a clue how badly Reid wanted to take Eric and make a run for it.

Slowly it became quiet and Reid shivered, way too nervous for a usual court case. Hotch noticed and squeezed his shoulder.

“You’ll be fine, Reid,” he said, sounding so much more confident than Reid ever could. “He’ll get the sentence he deserves and you’ll never have to face him again.”

Reid tensed at that, wanting to protest. But as the judge took his seat, he just nodded quietly and looked down, sullen. His stomach twisted itself into knots as the case was presented. It went on, sometimes harsh words were thrown around by Hotch and the other lawyer. Occasionally, Reid would glance towards Eric, who would look back at him. And just for a second, they stared, before Eric broke his stare and looked away.

Reid sighed and twisted his thumbs, shutting himself off from the conversations going on. He closed his eyes and let his mind take him wherever it wanted to go.

_Reid was seated on Eric’s lap, cock up his ass. He shifted slightly, trying to get used to the feeling. Another new position Eric introduced him to, Reid wondered how many there even were. Though he wouldn’t like to know._

_Hands on his hips alerted him, and Reid slowly started moving himself up and down. Eric smiled so proudly at him, it made Reid shiver and flush. He wanted to hide his face. He was still uncomfortable with taking anything up his ass, but at least Eric was gentle and patient. He guided him through the process with lots of praise and always more positivity than Reid could handle._

_Reid always felt nothing more but disgusted with these sessions, getting raped. No matter how gentle Eric was and no matter the praise, Reid realised very well what situation he was in. He’d seen Eric at his best and worst. And he didn’t want to see Eric at his worst again, remembering the pain he’d been put through, the castration, his nipples getting pierced._

_Reid stilled his movements and started crying. He just wanted to go home. It had been five days since they’d moved here and since he’d last heard anything of his team. He was feeling homesick._

_Eric sighed and pulled out, letting Reid curl up on the bed as Eric got up. “Get over them,” he said, softly and kind, but with a threat underneath. “You won’t be seeing them again.”_

_With that, Eric left. Reid was alone again in the basement, crying as memories of the team flooded his mind. A half an hour passed or so, Reid wasn’t really sure of the time. There was no clock around to tell him what time it was, how much time passed. He could only really guess. The door opened and Jackson came down the stairs, together with Mistress Alexandria. Reid knew he was in for it now, Jackson or Mistress Alexandria alone were horrible, together, Reid had nothing more but a death wish._

_”Get up, you pathetic whore,” the woman spoke, in her black latex suit, belt around her waist and dildo attached,_

_Reid shivered and slowly got up, tears still in his eyes. Jackson grabbed his arm and positioned him properly, ass up in the air on the bed, head hanging down over the edge. Reid shook his head, but it wouldn’t matter, never mattered._

_Reid was an object and nothing more. That’s how he was viewed by these people, even at times by Eric. Reid struggles as much as he could, until his hands were tied behind his back and a ring gag to keep his mouth open was shoved in and secured._

_Mistress Alexandria twisted her fingers in his hair, gripped it tight and raised his head, lining the dildo, big and menacing, up with his mouth. The head barely fit past the ring, the rest was force-fed into him until Reid gagged as the dildo hit the back of his throat._

_Fingers at his entrance alerted him to Jackson’s presence. Reid tried to protest, but found himself coughing instead as the dildo pulled back. Then, two fingers roughly pushed into his ass and Reid cried out, still sore from earlier when Eric had been with him._

_Mistress Alexandria shook her head and set a hard pace, thrusting in and out of Reid’s mouth. He could hear buzzing, alerting him to the vibrator present within the woman. This was probably causing her more pleasure than she was already having, at Reid’s painful and inexperienced expense. The fingers in his ass moved fast, quickly adding a third finger, then they were pulled out and Reid waited for the next part to happen._

_Jackson shoved his cock into Reid’s ass. Reid almost screamed, crying out and shaking violently. Jackson was always harsh on him, he was covered in bruises from Jackson’s mistreatment. Reid shut his eyes and tried to sink deep into safe space, but they didn’t allow him. Mistress Alexandria choked him, blocked off his airway every few minutes to keep him concentrated on the pain he was receiving._

_Reid endured their torture until they were done. He sighed in relief, believing it was over. Not that he knew their further plans. Reid curled up on the bed, cum dripping from his hole, his mouth sore with the gag still in, hands still tied behind his back. Mistress Alexandria set up a machine, while Jackson set up the proper positioning for Reid. The youngster was dragged over to the bench and tied down._

_Reid’s eyes widened at the size of the dildo attached to the machine and he shook his head, mumbling, begging, incoherently. But it didn’t matter, Jackson inserted the tip, Mistress Alexandria turned the machine on, immediately setting it to a brutal pace. Reid screamed through the gag, which was removed after a few minutes._

_”Please please please,” he chanted over and over again. To his horror, his torture was made worse when a vibrator was tied to the base of his dick. “Stop,” Reid gasped, body shaking from the mixture of pain and pleasure. “Stop, I don’t want this, I want to go home!”_

_Mistress Alexandria shook her head. “You’re such a whiny baby,” she said, slapping his face and making him shut up. “Listen here, little bitch. You’re never going home again. You’re ours, we’ll treat you how you should be treated and you’ll adjust and behave. I don’t like disobedient and loud slaves and I will remove your vocal cords if you continue to be a baby.”_

Reid was pulled back to reality as Hotch waved his hand in front of his face. Reid blinked and looked up at Hotch, tears streaking his face.

“The judge has is discussing now and is going to pass judgement in an hour or so. Are you okay?” Hotch asked, genuinely worried. The team had surrounded him by now.

Reid wiped his tears and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said, getting up. Not that he was fine, the opposite in fact. But he had to keep himself strong. He couldn’t show weakness towards the team.

Hotch frowned, but they left the room. Reid looked towards the side Eric had sat at, but saw he wasn’t there. Reid’s stomach dropped as he followed the others out. He wondered how the rest of the case had gone, what had been said, what the verdict would be. It made him nervous, anxious. He shifted from foot to foot as the rest sat down, feeling restless and insecure.

“Reid, sit down,” Morgan said gently, watching the kid as he shifted. The anxious aura around him made him wonder if something was wrong.

“I can’t,” Reid said, shaking his head. He continued shifting. “I can’t, can’t do this. Eric shouldn’t be convicted.” Reid started getting panicked.

“Reid,” JJ said, getting up and taking his hand in hers. She frowned, watching him. This was not normal for him, he’d been doing so well the past few weeks. She didn’t want him to fall back on old habits.

“What he did was wrong. What happens now is in the judge’s hands and he deserves every conviction he’s going to get.” She tried to be as kind, word her sentence gentle, but she hated Eric to the bone and she was glad once he would be locked away for the remainder of his life. 

Reid shook his head, pulling his hand back. “No! He doesn’t!” He took a few steps back, tears filling his eyes. “He doesn’t…” He ran.

Reid wasn’t sure how much time passed. He’d found himself a quiet room, a closet room, and had been seated in the dark ever since, trying to not be as panicked as he was. But it was hard, hard to keep his feelings, emotions, in check.

He was found by JJ, who took a lot of gentle coaxing to get him out of the closet room. She sighed and hugged him gently, Reid clinging to her, fists twisted in her shirt.

“Please… I don’t want him to get hurt, to get convicted. He doesn’t deserve it.” Reid sniffled, but managed to keep his tears at bay. He looked up at JJ, desperate, but her cold look told him all. He gritted his teeth and stepped away from her as the rest of the team finally found them.

“I will hate you all,” he said, “if he gets convicted.” Reid crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Hotch in particular, this was all Hotch’s fault anyway.

“You’re not being rational,” Hotch said, not fazed by Reid’s anger. “Eric is a criminal. He kidnapped you and put you through some of the worst torture we’ve seen. He kidnapped this team and kept us locked away until you got us freed. He took you halfway across the planet, raped you repeatedly, shared you with several people. Eric doesn’t care about you, Reid. He only cares about himself. You are nothing to him.”

Reid narrowed his eyes. “It doesn’t matter! I shouldn’t have worked along, you couldn’t have prosecuted him without me. Fuck…”

“We could have and would have.” Hotch watched Reid’s face twist into anger and disgust at himself and sighed. Reid still had a long way to go, this showed it. The past few weeks everything had seemed okay, Reid seemed to have been doing well. But obviously the younger was still very much attached to his abductor, his Stockholm Syndrome now playing up again. “It’s time for the conviction, let’s go.”

Reid didn’t want to, but he had to know Eric’s faith. So, after pulling himself together, wiping his face, he followed quietly after the team, refusing to be touched or talked to by any of them. He took his seat quietly and watched as Eric was escorted in and seated.

The judge came back in and Reid felt sick to his stomach, wishing there was something that he could do to interrupt the case and take Eric away from this all.

“After some considerable thought, looking over the evidence again, I have decided that the convicted deserved nothing less but the death penalty. With that, the case is closed.” The judge got up and the rest did too, and she left.

Reid stared at the space where the woman had just been, then slowly turned his head towards Eric, who had paled. “No,” Reid mumbled, slowly making his way over to Eric but Hotch caught his wrist and held him there as Eric was escorted out of the room and to the prison that would be his final room. The court room cleared until only Reid and the team were left.

“No,” Reid whispered, shaking his head. “No! This can’t be!” He looked towards Hotch, who looked satisfied.

“Reid, it’s over. Let’s go home and celebrate,” Hotch said, looking at Reid. The team agreed, ready to celebrate this major victory.

Reid was shaking with anger now, clenching his fists. “No, fuck you,” he said and stormed out, JJ going after him. But he ignored her desperate calls. Ignored everyone calling him on his cell phone, threw it against a random wall. He wasn’t sure where he was going, it didn’t matter for now. He had to get away from them, get himself some peace of mind. So he ran, and walked as far away from the team as he could.


	23. Chapter 23

Reid eventually ended up in an alley. It was dark, it was raining. Reid was wet and cold and uncertain of where he was. He’d ran and walked such a considerable distance and he hadn’t paid attention to street signs. He sighed, sheltering under the tiny roof in the alley. He wrapped his arms around himself.

Of course, it wasn’t wise to hide in an alley. Alleys were known for predators waiting to catch innocent prey and ruin them. Not that Reid was innocent anymore. He was already ruined. It didn’t really matter what anyone else would do to him. He would never be able to recover from his mental injuries, he would never be the same. He was as he was and he’d accepted it by now, that he would never be his old self again. It was difficult, but it was as it was.

Car lights stopped in front of the alley and Reid looked like a deer in the headlights. His eyes wide, body stiff. The car was an SUV, black to hide easily in the night. No license plate. Trouble. Two men stepped out of the car, looking surprised to find someone else than who they’re used to on the spot. They chuckled, thinking it was someone new that had been sent to entertain them for the night.

“Hey babe, you look a little scared,” one of them said. He seemed to have dark brown hair, looked well-build. The man approached and Reid checked for escape routes, but the only one was blocked by the car and the two men. And Reid was not about to head into that direction and try to get past them. They had him in their vision and Reid was certain they wouldn’t just let him walk.

“What?” Reid backed up until his back hit the wall, body shivering from the cold he endured. The winter had gotten cold the past few days, with chance of snow upcoming the next week. Being skinny didn’t help, made it harder to keep warm, and wearing only a thin sweater and jeans, it didn’t protect him well from the cold that hung in the air and chilled his bones.

“Awh, don’t be afraid baby,” the man said, now standing in front of Reid. He reached out and Reid flinched. The man chuckled and grabbed Reid’s crotch, giving it a good squeeze. Reid yelped and tried to get away, but being backed into the wall and corner as much as he could made it impossible. The man fondled with him, rubbing his covered crotch and Reid did nothing about it but close his eyes and hope it was over.

“I- I’m an FBI agent,” Reid stuttered, trying to get himself together. For a short moment he found some strength. He was showing signs of weakness and with these people, he doubted that was a good thing.

“Are you now?” the other laughed, light blonde hair, tanned, also well-build. He approached as well, amused by Reid’s attempt to get them to back off. He in no way could see Reid as an FBI agent.

“That’s cute,” he said. “Show us your badge.”

Reid paled because, of course, he didn’t have it on him. He hadn’t yet made the decision whether he wanted to return or not so he’d given all his stuff to the team. This situation was starting to look desperate. And now his courage was gone and Reid shook as the other man grabbed his hair and tilted his head back. He licked a stripe up to Reid’s ear and chuckled, feeling Reid’s pulse pounding.

“See, you’re a liar,” the blonde said and grabbed Reid’s wrist, dragging him over to the car. Reid struggled, fought as hard as he could, but it wouldn’t work. They were stronger than him, easily wrestled him towards the car. He was bent over, hands held behind his back and face pressed against the cold metal. Reid was shaking worse now, tears filled his eyes as all the scenarios of what they could do to him ran through his mind. Bile rose his throat but he swallowed it down, throwing up would only worsen his situation.

Belt buckles were loosened and Reid wanted to beg them not to do this, to leave them alone. Instead, he bit down on his tongue and gave in, body going limp as he laid on the cold surface of the car’s hood. It made his shivering worse.

“Stop what you’re doing and put your hands in the air!” A familiar voice echoed through the alley as the car door opened. Reid realised it was Rossi, and the two guys turned around, letting go of Reid who scurried back to the corner he’d been in. Why were they here? How had they found them? Reid had discarded his phone and had lost all contact with the team. That they found him was nothing short of a miracle, for them and not for him. 

The two guys were given a warning and left while JJ approached Reid, being careful because he just looked so frightened.

“Spencer, it’s JJ,” she said, kneeling in front of him. She watched him, knew he recognised her, but he didn’t make a move. He just stared down at the ground. “Let’s get you home, you must be cold,” she said. She was worried for his health, the way he was shivering was not a good sign. He’d no doubt get sick if he continued to stay out here in the cold.

“Leave me alone,” Reid mumbled, wrapping his arms around his legs and continued shivering. He sniffled, realising just how weak and worthless he was. He hadn’t even been able to defend himself. He used to be so different, but now? 

“I’m not leaving,” JJ said.

“Me neither,” Rossi said, kneeling beside JJ and looking at Reid. “Come on, Reid. We know you’re struggling, but you’ll get sick like this.”

“So?” Reid shrugged coldly. Like he could care. “What does it matter? You should have just left me to those guys, I’m more useful to them than to anyone else.” He looked towards JJ and Rossi, the look in his eyes making it clear how defeated Reid was. “Eric is going to die because of Hotch. I’m never going to be the same because of Eric and Co. I’m a worthless whore, as Mistress Alexandria always said. Only good to be fucked.” He looked down again and sighed. 

“Spencer, no,” JJ said softly, the words hurting her. She’d never imagined him to feel that way and it made her wonder just how long he’d been feeling this way. He’d been doing so good the past few weeks until today, but now she realised it must all have been a façade. A mask to hide his true feelings and please the team, like he’d pleased Eric.

“Come home,” she said, reaching out and taking his hand. “I’m not going to leave you here and I will personally drag you back to the car,” she said. It sounded harsh, but she had to. If Reid refused to cooperate, she would make him. Because there was no way she was going to walk away from him and let him wallow in his self-pity and sadness.

Reid frowned, looking up at JJ. He pulled his hand back and stood up, clearly not looking pleased. “Fine,” he mumbled, anger clear. He followed them back to the car and got in.

The drive was quiet and Reid realised halfway he wouldn’t be brought to his own apartment, but to Rossi’s house. 

“I want to go to my own apartment,” Reid protested, trying to open the door but finding it locked. Of course, they wouldn’t risk him running away again.

“Reid, you can’t take care of yourself. You’re a risk to yourself.” Rossi looked at the younger in the mirror. “You need someone to take care of you.”

“No,” Reid said, pushing against the door. “I don’t need to be taken care of like some fucking child. Who the fuck do you think you are?” Reid was angry now. He didn’t want to be treated like a child, didn’t need to be taken care of. Not according to himself anyway. This was not okay, Reid needed to go home, to his own apartment so he could lock himself in and never leave again.

“Stop it,” Rossi said, turning around in his seat. “It’s no use. It’s this or a mental facility.”

Reid froze at that, slowly looking at Rossi with wide eyes. He didn’t mean it, did he? But Rossi did. It had been Hotch’s suggestion and although the team had argued against it at first, once Hotch had explained why, they’d nodded and given in. Reid did need supervision and he needed to be looked after, things he wouldn’t get would they allow him to go back to his own apartment.

Reid stayed quiet throughout the ride, upset that they’d even thought of locking him up in a mental facility. He rocked himself back and forth the rest of the ride until they were there, and refused to leave the car at first.

Eventually he did, JJ driving away back home, while he was stuck with Rossi. Reid glared daggers at the man but Rossi just smiled at him, opening up the house.

“You know where everything is. Go take a shower, extra clothes in the spare bedroom.” Rossi watched Reid as he just stood there for a moment, then ran.

Rossi sighed and shook his head, leaving Reid be and locking all doors and windows so Reid couldn’t escape that easily. He walked to the kitchen and warmed up some food.

A few quiet hours passed. Rossi ate, watched TV, worried about Reid but let him be anyway. Then he heard something in the kitchen and Rossi got up, slowly and quietly walking to the kitchen. He found Reid there, eating some of the leftover food. Rossi smiled, glad to see the skinny kid eating at least some of the food.

“Enjoying yourself?” Rossi asked, crossing his arms over his chest with a satisfied smirk.

Reid froze, put the food down and wiped his mouth. He ignored the older man and left, Rossi following him to the bedroom.

“Don’t be childish,” Rossi said, sighing. “Reid, we care for you. We want what is best for you, we want to help you to recover. You won’t let us, so we’ll have to force you.”

Reid spun around and looked at Rossi. “No, fuck you,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “I’m fine. You and the team just can’t accept that I’ve changed and that I’ll never be different again. And then you threaten me! Threaten me with locking me up in some mental facility!? You lock me up in your house with no way to leave because all doors and windows are locked! Me, childish? Look at yourself, and you’re supposed to know better, being the oldest on the team.” He scrunched his face and took a step back. 

“You can’t imagine what I’ve gone through. The written and spoken words do no justice. And you, and all others, could never have survived what I survived.” Reid had tears in his eyes, fists clenched at his side. “I won’t ever be the same and you’ll just have to deal with how I’ve become. Not that it matters, I’m never going back to the team anyway.”

He turned and walked into the bedroom, shut the door and locked it. Rossi was left standing there, speechless and uncertain. Reid was going to quit the team.

Rossi stood there for several minutes until he finally managed to force his legs to move again. He walked to his own bedroom and took his phone, put a quick text to the rest of the team about Reid’s decision and sighed, laying down on the bed and wondering where it all went so wrong. The team had fucked up and Reid had paid the price. And now the team, and Reid, were suffering the consequences of Reid’s prolonged captivity.

He suddenly felt uncertain about having the younger man in his house. Perhaps it was better to leave Reid alone, to just let him go and figure himself out. But what if Reid got himself into more trouble instead? 

Rossi shook his head and closed his eyes, hoping to catch some sleep.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, we have a few options guys:  
> 1\. Reid will be found and we'll have a fairly happy ending.  
> 2\. Reid won't be found and there will be a sequel (the ending that I'm working on now tbh).
> 
> I'm working on option two but giving you, my dear, loyal readers, a choice.

It was no surprise that Reid fell sick the next day. He’d been out in the rain for hours yesterday, together with the cold temperatures and him being thin and weak, it hadn’t helped. He took on a fever, probably had a bad cold that could take weeks for him to recover. 

After twisting and turning in his bed, to the point of screaming and crying, waking Rossi up several times during the night, he woke up covered in sweat, panting and exhausted. He shivered as the nightmares slowly vanished from his mind, he pushed all the memories back and tried so hard to forget him. He knew it was impossible, he remembered everything in such details that he could never escape what happened to him, no matter how hard he tried. He would always remember and he would always carry the proof, the scars of what had happened to him as an FBI agent. It’d pushed him to his limits, he’d decided not to return to the team, it was better that way.

Reid just didn’t want to end up getting hurt again. He’d been plenty hurt during his time as a profiler and he was getting sick and tired of it. It was taking a toll on his mental health. He loved the team, he did, but he couldn’t be around them without them reminding him what he’d gone through. He needed a new start, somehow, somewhere. Just be on his own for a while, trying not to feel as miserable as he did nowadays. And especially trying not to think of Eric’s imminent death.

Eric’s death worried him. He was certain Hotch wanted him to be there, that Eric might request his presence. Reid wasn’t sure if he could handle seeing the man die in front of his eyes. He couldn’t stop it, there was nothing that he could do to change the situation now. He should have never worked along, perhaps Eric would have gotten a lighter sentence. Reid didn’t want the man, his abductor, to die. And he especially didn’t want to be there, to helplessly watch as they’d put him down like some wounded animal with no life left to live. It was cruel.

He emerged from the bedroom, following the smell of food to the kitchen. He wasn’t really hungry, his stomach protested at even the thought of food. But Reid knew that Rossi would come and get him eventually and get him to eat as well. He needed to eat something, something light. Or he wasn’t going to last long in his weakened, sick state. He leaned a lot against walls, every few steps stopping to take a deep breath before continuing on. Rossi looked up as Reid entered the kitchen, and frowned.

“You’re sick,” Rossi noted. Reid obviously had a fever, his face was slightly flushed and covered in sweat. He looked pale as well, all signs that he was sick and fighting a disease, probably a cold. Rossi knew that Reid would fall sick. The moment he’d laid eyes on the younger yesterday, his doubt had vanished.

“God, would you think?” Reid fired back, leaning against the fridge to seek the cold of it. Sarcasm dropped from his voice. Reid never really was a sarcastic person, but ever since the threat yesterday, of that mental facility, he’d got defensive towards everyone. Even those that meant only well, really wanted to help him. He sighed, pressing his cheek to the cold surface and closing his eyes.

Rossi shook his head. The kid’s attitude was working on his nerves already. He turned back to the stove, making sure not to burn the eggs and toast. He looked towards Reid again. “Why don’t you sit down, huh? You’re looking like you could collapse any minute and hitting your head is only going to make things worse.”

Reid rolled his eyes but did so anyway, taking a seat in the living room. Of course Rossi was right, there was no doubt about it. Reid couldn’t really afford any more setbacks, especially not after running form the team. He was lucky that he had been found in time, he wasn’t sure what those two men would have done to him otherwise. Not that he cared, really. He’d rather they hurt him than that he had been found. But life had a habit of fucking him over, especially recently. 

He shivered, cold yet so hot. Obviously, he was running a fever. He didn’t eat much; one piece of toast was all he managed to swallow down before his stomach started protesting. Rossi got him a blanket, letting Reid curl himself into the fabric in the hopes of seeking the warmth.

Not an hour later, the entire team flooded the living room, causing Reid to wake from his slumber and stare up at Hotch, Morgan, JJ, Prentiss and Garcia. He blinked, wrapping himself more into the blankets. He didn’t want them around, he wanted to be left alone.

“So, you’re leaving.” Hotch looked down at Reid, a seemingly disappointed expression on his face. The others seemed upset, especially JJ.

Reid nodded, not looking up at them. He shrugged carelessly. “I’m not who I used to be. I won’t ever be how I used to be. It’s no use for me to come back to the team,” he said.

“But…” Garcia looked down at the genius. “Reid, you’re part of our family. Why won’t you give it a try?” she asked. All she wanted was the team to be complete, to be the same again and fight crime like they always had. They’d been through difficult stuff together, they were still struggling, they always would. But as long as they were together, they were safer and better off. They were family, and Garcia didn’t want anyone to leave.

Reid shook his head. “I don’t want to be an agent anymore,” Reid said softly. “I’ve had enough of that life. I didn’t even really do anything meaningful. I could have cured diseases, but instead I spent six months being nothing more but a human toy.” Reid laughed at himself, the team a little caught off guard. “At least I didn’t have to worry about so many things though. That was probably the best of it. I just let Eric take care of everything. Food, water, even bathing was controlled by him and I was fine with it. But it doesn’t matter.”

“Don’t say that,” JJ said softly, lowering herself so she could look Reid in the eyes. But he avoided her gaze. “Spencer, you’re important to us. This team is not a team without you. We spent six months trying so hard to find you. And we have you back, we know you’re struggling. If you would just let us help you.”

Reid finally looked at JJ, eyes cold but the hurt clear. He shook his head. “There is no helping me,” he said. He looked away and closed his eyes. “You can keep me here as long as you want, but it won’t help.”

“Then you’ll be off to a mental facility,” Hotch said, crossing his arms over his chest. He watched Reid tense, knowing it made Reid extremely uncomfortable. “I’ve already arranged everything, your clothes and important things are packed.”

Reid glared up at Hotch. “Why do you have to make my life even more miserable?” He threw the blanket off and slowly stood up. “You took away Eric, you got him a death sentence. And now you want to lock me away as if I’m some…” He pushed past the crowd. “I want you to leave me alone.”

“But we won’t,” Morgan jumped in, following after Reid. “We won’t, we can’t. You’re family, important. You can’t just expect us to let you go.”

Reid turned around and looked at Morgan. “No, apparently not.” He looked at the rest of the team. “Apparently you just can’t accept that I am not going to be my old self.” 

“Rei-“ Hotch started, but Reid’s eyes flashed in anger.

“Don’t Reid me, Hotch. You’ve been treating me like a child ever since you guys rescued me. A child! I’m an adult and I, and only I, can and will decide over my own life.” Reid clenched his fists, feeling the need to punch something, someone. “You can’t just make those decisions for me. I am an adult and you are not my legal guardian. You guys have no idea what I’ve been through, how much it hurt. And none of you could have survived what I have. So leave me the fuck alone, for once.”

Reid took a step to his room, then turned around again and glared at the team members. “It would have been better if I had never called. You wouldn’t have found me, I’d still be in the safe and capable arms of Eric. And now everything’s ruined thanks to you, because you wouldn’t listen to me. I was content and doing well, but look at me now. I’m a mess.” He sniffled, taking a step back as tears formed in his eyes.

“Everything was fine until you found me, you got me hurt. I will forever carry the scars because of you, all of you!” Reid wiped a tear angrily, not wanting to cry in front of them. He was already weak as it was, he didn’t need to look any weaker now. But he couldn’t help it. Tears kept coming, streaming down his face as the others watched him, obviously wanting to do something but keeping their distance. A wise decision, Reid didn’t want to be touched by any of them.

He walked to his room, the others following. But Reid wouldn’t let them in, slamming the door shut, the sound echoing through Rossi’s house. They all sighed.

They waited around, until it was almost evening. Worried, Rossi went to check, walking to the room Reid called his bedroom for now. He knocked and listened, but no sound came. He checked the door, but it was locked.

“Reid!” he called, trying to get some sort of answer. Again, it remained quiet. “Morgan, kick the door in,” Rossi said. Never thought he would, but he was really worried, and so were the others.

Morgan looked at the door, then took a step back and gave it the best kick he could. The door opened and Rossi stepped inside first, but found the room completely empty and the window opened. He frowned, walking up to the window and peering out of it, but there was no sign of Reid.

“Not again,” Hotch said. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Let’s find him and bring him to that facility.”

“Hotch,” Rossi said, turning around and looking at their team leader. “I don’t think that’s wise. He did have a point. We’ve been treating him as a child since we got him back. He’s young, sure, but not a child.”

“You saw for yourself,” Hotch said, looking at Rossi. He was not amused. He wanted what was best for Reid, and that was a speedy recovery. And for that recovery to happen, Hotch realised a mental facility would be the only place.

“He’s a mess, he keeps clinging to Eric.” Hotch shook his head. “He’s a danger to himself and others. He wants to recover, but if he won’t allow us, we’ll have to do it the hard way. None of us want him locked away but it seems that we have no choice.”

“Can’t we just leave him alone for a bit?” Garcia asked. “He’s a victim, he’s been through so much. He deserves some alone time and some distance from us. We’re only pressuring him, and that’s not what he wants. We need to show him that we only want what’s best for him.”

Hotch looked at Garcia and shook his head. “Reid is not leaving me a choice.” He left the room to go to his car and find Reid. 

The others sighed, standing in the room and looking around. They wondered how things could have taken such a turn for the worst. They never meant to chase of Reid, all wanted what was best for them, but Reid obviously didn’t realise that, didn’t see that.

The others decided to try and find him as well, getting into their cars. They would start with searching through the city, hanging up missing person’s posters. They were profilers, but so was Reid. And they knew it would be difficult to track him down, especially because Reid didn’t want to be found.

So they sought, for days, but he wasn’t found. No one saw him. It worried them. Reid had been really sick when he’d fled, he couldn’t possibly be doing any better now. The situation started looking desperate. 

Rossi especially was worried, knowing that he was such an easy target to perverts on the streets. The fact that they’d found Reid in an alley, bend over a hood with two guys about ready to hurt him. Rossi shivered and shook his head. He worried that Reid was already in the hands of perverts and getting hurt, allowing them to. Because Reid’s self-esteem was the lowest it had ever been.

The more days passed, the more desperate the team became.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me so long to write I'm so sorry. But here it is, the end to this story, the beginning of the sequel. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts.

The weather perfectly resembled the mood at the funeral. Rain had been pouring down earlier and although it was dry now, the clouds drifted over them, heavy with unspilled rain. Morgan, Hotch, Rossi and another man carried the empty coffin to its final destination. It wasn’t too heavy, being empty. They slowly lowered the coffin into the ground, the hole dug out neatly.

Prentiss started her speech once everyone was standing around the coffin and paying attention. It had been a year since they’d last seen Reid, right before he’d escaped Rossi’s house. They’d sought everywhere, put out national and international notes to find him, but no one did. It was a mystery, and eventually, a few weeks ago, he’d been declared dead. The team had been given time off as they prepared a funeral for Reid. It was uncomfortable, terrifying. 

Rossi glanced at all the people surrounding the coffin. Not many there were. The team were present, a few old friends of Reid, some officials. He looked down at the coffin, it looked peaceful in the ground. But this was nothing but peaceful. 

He couldn’t understand how Reid had just vanished into thin air, no trace left behind. It was virtually impossible to do so. But Reid had managed. He sighed and looked at Garcia, who was upset the most. She’d never given up the search and even now, he knew that she would always look for him. No one of the team could accept that Reid was dead, not without evidence, not without a body.

Rossi worried. Reid had not been in a good place mentally when he disappeared. He’d been sick, too, suffering a fever and a bad cold from the night before. Rossi knew that Reid could have gotten himself in trouble, probably was in trouble. The kid had changed so much over the course of weeks and had never been able to properly recover after he was saved. Rossi couldn’t blame him; what Reid had gone through was nothing short of inhumane. He’d known that Reid would never be completely himself again, but he’d never thought Reid would struggle as much as he did.

Perhaps threatening him with a mental facility had not been correct. Even Hotch had doubted his decision, but nothing could be done now. They were covering the coffin; the speech had ended. Rossi watched quietly. He hoped, desperately, that Reid would turn up some day. He didn’t want to live his entire life not knowing what happened to the kid.

And then, the day of Eric’s execution, he’d vanished as well. They’d been there, watching him get put down. A few hours later, his body was gone. Rossi quietly wondered if Reid had played a role, kind of knew he had to. Bodies didn’t just vanish, but for Reid to take Eric’s body with him was an unlikely situation. They’d all seen how attached Reid was to Eric, but they didn’t think he would be to blame for a stolen body. Rossi was uncertain, had a feeling in his gut that Reid had played them.

It had been a crisis though. The team had been questioned, but they hadn’t been involved, hadn’t known who had. Rossi never voiced his thoughts, never said Reid might have played a hand in Eric’s disappearance. He wasn’t sure how the team would react to that, considering they had just been given the news that Reid had been declared dead.

Logically they knew he wasn’t, couldn’t be. They hoped he wasn’t. JJ didn’t want her best friend to be dead, not yet. He was too young, too smart. She had been dealing with it, but she had struggled, just like the rest of the team. She had hoped, so many nights, that Reid would return. She’d sought far and wide, but no trace was found. When Eric disappeared, she could only imagine how much that must have hurt Reid had he been there, had he known and had he heard. She never suspected it may have been Reid stealing bodies. She couldn’t imagine him to.

She stared down at the empty coffin, not even listening to Prentiss’ speech. Not out of disrespect, not at all. Just because she didn’t want to hear who he was. He couldn’t be dead, not in her eyes. He couldn’t just leave her like that, not knowing what happened to him. Her children often asked for him, and she hadn’t been able to explain where Reid had gone off to. She’d let that job to Will, who had made up an excuse because even he refused Reid was dead.

They didn’t make it any easier for themselves. Morgan knew, logically, that they really needed to let Reid go. But no one could. They were set on finding out where he went, what happened to him. Even with no traces, even when, for a year, nothing had been known of him. Morgan sighed internally. No one could just vanish like that. He worried for Reid, they all did. Reid was like a brother to him, he couldn’t imagine how hurt and lost Reid must have felt when he left, escaped and vanished. He wondered why Reid hadn’t just come to him, or JJ, or Rossi. Perhaps they’d hurt his trust.

Once the coffin was covered, everyone left. The team stayed behind, a quiet refusal to accept that Reid was gone, not coming back. He had to be somewhere, needed to be alive and well. Eventually, once evening set in, they left, went home.

They had another few weeks off before they could restart again. It was their time to move on, remember Reid for who he was but not make him a priority in their thoughts. When they came back, there was a hole left unfilled. No new person had joined the team, Hotch had requested the spot be left empty. Reid could not be replaced, not by anyone.

“Alright,” Hotch said, walking into the conference room where everyone was seated. “We have a new case.”

Garcia clicked the buttons on the remote and images popped up, women – prostitutes – brutally murdered. One man as well, also a prostitute. They were all naked, their clothes laid out neatly beside them. All women had their genitals mutilated, the man was intact. The man had bruises around his wrists, throat and thighs. The women had cuts on their right cheek, three crosses in a triangle shape. It meant something, none of the team were sure what it did, though.

“The past few weeks, someone, or several people, have been taking prostitutes off the streets. Three days later, they turn up dead.” Garcia didn’t look at the screen, not wanting to see the gory images. Some of them were missing pieces of hair, and all of them had jewellery stolen.

“Jewellery and hair as trophies,” Prentiss noted, looking at the images. 

“This case is urgent. Wheels up in 30.” Hotch got up and left the conference room. The rest prepared themselves, packing their bags and looking over the case before they boarded the plane. They were off to Atlantic City.

Hotch felt on edge. Something in his gut told him this case was more than they knew, was hiding something. It was hard to put down what, his stomach was upset. His mind told him something was off. But he didn’t tell the team.

Atlantic City was a gambling city. Many people went there to gamble, and although Las Vegas was known for it, Atlantic City was just as popular for those who couldn’t afford to travel to Las Vegas. Gambling brought debts, gangs and prostitutes. It was a big city, and they would have their hands full. Hotch studied the map, noting all the places where the prostitutes had been placed. It was a large geographical area, meaning that it was harder to pin down just one place. The unsub was all over the place. However, the prostitutes had been picked up at one typical corner, where others were always stationed.

Once landed they set up at the police station. They got a conference room, coffee was arranged and they discussed with the officer leading the investigation what was known already. The prostitutes had all been approached exactly three weeks before their disappearance by one person, an older man in his forties with a greying beard. They suspected he had something to do with it, but tracking him was nearly impossible. He wasn’t known in any database they’d used. Garcia was tasked with finding the man’s identity.

The rest discussed the notes, the geographical area, the point of pick up and the point where the bodies were discarded. This case wasn’t going to be easy, and with their minds on Reid still, it would be difficult to focus on case alone and not search this city far and wide for their lost member.

JJ and Morgan were tasked with checking out the corner where prostitutes would reside to get picked up and earn money. They got into the car. JJ scanned the city, scanned each and every face she saw. She was focused on the case but she couldn’t help but hope for a sign of Reid. They drove to the corner and parked the car. They got out and looked around, it was midday and not many prostitutes were out. They saw one person though and they slowly approached.

The person was a young man, looked barely legal. He had light blonde hair, almost white. Green eyes, fair skin. JJ smiled kindly and he looked curious.

“Hello,” she said, shaking his hand. “My name is JJ, this is my partner Morgan. We are from the FBI,” she explained.

“FBI?” he asked, cocking his head. “I didn’t know FBI cared about…” he trailed off and frowned, unsure on how to finish that sentence. He shrugged. “My name is Damian.”

“Damian, that’s a beautiful name. How old are you?” Morgan asked and saw fear flit across Damian’s eyes. It seemed unlikely that he was legal, even though he was tall and made to look like it.

“I’m 16, sir.” He took a step back and rubbed his wrist, obviously nervous. 

JJ sighed, wondering how such young people ended up in such a position. She smiled kindly. “Have you seen anything suspicious around, lately? Certain people that might be hurting you or your friends?” she asked, diverting the topic of his age to a more important matter at hand.

Damian nodded. “There’s this man, he comes here three times a week and picks up a prostitute. They all end up dead weeks later, kidnapped three days before they’re dumped.” He frowned, his lip trembling. “I lost my best friend to him. He was my only companion, I’ve been uncertain what to do without him.” 

JJ felt bad for him. It wasn’t easy to obtain friends here, but to have someone taken away so rudely. She shook her head and nodded at him, writing down her notes. “Okay,” she said. She handed him her calling card. “Be careful, okay? Don’t go with him. If you see him, call me. Do you have a phone?”

Damian shook his head, and JJ was lucky she had an extra phone. She handed her extra phone to him. “Call me, okay? Whenever you see him. Keep an eye out.”

Damian nodded, shy and flushed. He looked at the phone, taking it carefully as if it was the most precious thing that he had ever seen.

Morgan and JJ returned to their car and got in. Morgan gripped the steering wheel tightly. “16 is way too young,” he mumbled, starting the car and pulling out of the parking spot. 

“I know,” JJ said with a sigh, looking out the window at Damian, who was figuring out his new phone. “It makes me wonder how they even came into this profession. But we can’t focus on that now.”

Morgan nodded and they slowly drove back. A few hundred meters after they left the corner JJ blinked.

“Morgan stop,” she said, rolling down her window.

Morgan stopped the car, put it aside and out of traffic. “What is it?” he asked.

JJ covered her mouth, eyes wide. She pointed and Morgan looked, and then he gasped, eyes widened. It couldn’t be.

“That’s…” he trailed off and took a closer look, but he was certain. It couldn’t be anyone else.

“It’s Reid.”


End file.
